A Quintessential Guide to PPE or Personal Protection Equipment
When it comes to working environments and factory floors, one of the most visible appliances is personal protection equipment or PPE. These equipment are usually worn by the factory workers and employees to protect themselves from any injury and to minimize any chance of exposure to extreme occupational hazards. Some of the most common examples of PPE are aprons, gloves, foot, eye and head gears, fall protection and safety jackets. Though here we would be talking about mostly PPE, it should be well understood that the utilization of such equipment is just one element in a comprehensive safety program that includes several other strategies for the safety of employees and to maintain a secure work environment. But the mere presence of personal protection equipment on a person’s body doesn’t guarantee the complete safety as it doesn’t eliminate the hazard itself. Now let’s talk about the essential elements of personal protection equipment.
1. Noise: High quality earmuffs and earplugs can be utilized to reduce the hearing damage, thus decreasing the ear damage while working in the factory floors. Regular exposure to higher levels of noises can lead to irreparable hearing loss along with psychological issues and physical stress.
2. Height and access protection: The term access and height protection is an umbrella term and includes several components such as rescue lifting, fall arrest systems, lanyards, body harness, energy absorbers, etc. These PPE are made of specialized materials and requires a thorough training in order for the usage and user check of height and access protection.
3. Respirators: When a person is working in any factory, he is vulnerable towards several contaminants present in the air that can prove dangerous to the health of heart as well as respiratory system. Thus, in order to prevent such complications, respirators should be used by the workers. Usually, there are mainly two types of respirators. The first type filters the gases, airborne particles and chemicals from the air that worker is breathing. The second type protects the users by providing clean air from an artificial source. This one includes a breathing apparatus along with respirators.
4. Protective Clothing: Protective clothing can be defined as one of the most important elements of PPE. It includes various suits and different types of uniforms that are worn by the factory workers to ensure no harm comes to them even in dangerous situations. Various safety gloves and lab coats worn by lab employees and ballistic jackets worn by law officials fall under this category.
5. Eye Protection: Eye protection is must for every industry, despite of the fact that every industry poses a different level of risks to the eyes. With high quality safety glasses, the workers are protected from any kind of external debris. There are certain glasses that come fitted with side glasses as well in order to protect eyes from sides as well. Some of the most common debris include dust particles, splashes, welding, etc. Workers can use face shields on the top of glass eyes for extra protection to eyes and to protect face.
With that being said, these are some of the essential personal protection equipment. Want to know more about PPE? Stay tuned with us.
