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    Safety First – Must-Have Personal Safety Equipment For The Workplace

    By on Last modified: June 13, 2017

    Work is work, as long as there are the right conditions and protection that ensures the safety of workers, that’s something I’m sure we can all agree on. Even if salary is sky high, if there’s no sign of protection, it means human life is taken for granted at that place which immediately makes that particular job lose value. While there may be the adequate machinery at the workplace, there has to be the adequate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) as well because it’s just as crucial and is meant to protect the worker from injuries, illnesses, and hazards at the work place.

    This applies to every job based on exposure to hazards, be it in a lab working with chemicals and radiation, the construction site, welding, mining, carrying out electric tasks or just spending time at the warehouse. While there might be the applied safe systems and engineering controls, there’s still the chance of hazards being present, in the likes of corrosive liquids, and particles flying around, which can damage the eyes and the skin, then contaminated air posing threat to the lungs, and then the heavy materials that could damage the head and feet – all of these require the use of personal safety equipment.

    Having in mind the difference of hazards and injuries that could come as a result, there are different pieces of personal safety equipment, from the adequately designed thick reflective jacket and trousers, to special boots, gloves, helmet and glasses, it’s important that you carry out risk assessment, answering questions like who is exposed to what and for how long to be able to decide on the equipment you’re going to need.

    According to the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act), established since 1971, it’s employers task to provide their workers with safety equipment in the case of health hazard unpredictability, so it’s not a matter of whether to use this sort of equipment but rather a situation of must, and a question of which pieces are necessary.

    Even those tasks that only take a few minutes can end up disastrously, so it’s crucial that employers and employees alike are familiar with the equipment, how to use it, how to adjust it, put it on and wear it, and how to maintain it properly when not in use to best protect it. When there’s some repairing needed with the equipment, it’s important it gets repaired as soon as possible, and if necessary replaced.