People are not excellent and infrequently make mistakes. We take shortcuts, neglect easy methods to do things, or change into distracted at times when we shouldn’t. In most facets of our lives, these aren’t things that have dire consequences. At work, however, surrounded by hazards, these types of mistakes can alter lives, even end them. So, even though human beings aren’t perfect, we have to make our safety programs as close to excellent as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a side of safety where people are inclined to make many mistakes, and for quite a lot of reasons. Often, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us immune to injury. With as a lot emphasis as we place on eye protection and head protection, can we lose sight (no pun meant) of protecting our faces? Certainly, eye protection is vital, since eye accidents can lead to everlasting blindness. Equally necessary is head protection, preventing fatal head accidents the very best that we can. Face accidents may not seem as significant a priority. They don’t have the rapid, permanent, and probably deadly consequences of the others. With that said, although, an employer’s accountability is to protect all parts of their employees, together with their faces.
That duty includes identifying tasks where face shields ought to be used, providing face shields for workers to use, training them to make use of face shields accurately, and to appropriate workers when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The primary components are easy. Our staff will make mistakes. Correcting these mistakes and imposing your organization’s face shield necessities is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Unfortunately, too often, this facet of the PPE program is just not enforced until after an worker is injured.
Conditions to Use Face Shields
Consider the following conditions the place face shields should have been used, and the results for the injured workers and their employers.
An worker was filling ammonia nurse tanks from a bulk plant. The employee was distracted while closing the valves, and mistakenly turned the unsuitable valve, causing a pressure release in the line. The discharge of anhydrous ammonia splashed on the worker’s face. The worker was hospitalized for chemical burns on and across the face.
An employee was installing a water pipe at a multifamily residential building project. The employee initially was operating an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to chop a ten-inch water pipe with a cut-off saw. The saw kicked back and struck the employee’s face. Co-workers called emergency companies, who transported the worker to the hospital. The employee was admitted to the hospital and handled for facial lacerations that extended from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
In the first situation, the worker suffered serious chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical exposure, the extent of the chemical burns, and presumably may have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the worker’s face. Yes, the employee turned the unsuitable valve, but does that mean that the employer is absolved of all responsibility for this incident? Of course not. The actual fact remains that the employer should provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train staff to make use of the face shields accurately, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they have to frequently and constantly implement the face shield requirements. Doing so would have provided additional protection to the employee, even from the effects of the worker’s own actions.
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