Individuals are not good and sometimes make mistakes. We take shortcuts, overlook methods to do things, or turn into distracted at occasions once we shouldn’t. In most points of our lives, these aren’t things which have dire consequences. At work, nevertheless, surrounded by hazards, these types of errors can alter lives, even end them. So, despite the fact that human beings aren’t perfect, we need to make our safety programs as close to perfect as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a side of safety where individuals tend to make many mistakes, and for quite a lot of reasons. Typically, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us resistant to injury. With as much emphasis as we place on eye protection and head protection, can we lose sight (no pun supposed) of protecting our faces? Certainly, eye protection is necessary, since eye accidents can lead to permanent blindness. Equally vital is head protection, stopping deadly head injuries the most effective that we can. Face accidents may not seem as significant a priority. They do not have the instant, permanent, and probably deadly penalties of the others. With that said, although, an employer’s responsibility is to protect all components of their staff, including their faces.
That accountability includes identifying tasks where face shields needs to be used, providing face shields for employees to use, training them to use face shields appropriately, and to correct staff when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The primary elements are easy. Our employees will make mistakes. Correcting those errors and imposing your company’s face shield requirements is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Sadly, too usually, this facet of the PPE program just isn’t enforced till after an employee is injured.
Situations to Use Face Shields
Consider the next situations the place face shields ought to have been used, and the consequences for the injured workers and their employers.
An worker was filling ammonia nurse tanks from a bulk plant. The worker was distracted while closing the valves, and mistakenly turned the wrong valve, inflicting a pressure launch within the line. The release of anhydrous ammonia splashed on the employee’s face. The worker was hospitalized for chemical burns on and across the face.
An worker was putting in a water pipe at a multifamily residential construction project. The worker initially was working an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to chop a 10-inch water pipe with a lower-off saw. The noticed kicked back and struck the employee’s face. Co-workers called emergency services, who transported the employee to the hospital. The worker was admitted to the hospital and handled for facial lacerations that extended from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
Within the first state of affairs, the employee suffered serious chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical publicity, the extent of the chemical burns, and possibly might have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the worker’s face. Sure, the worker turned the unsuitable valve, however does that mean that the employer is absolved of all responsibility for this incident? Of course not. The very fact stays that the employer should provide employees filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train employees to use the face shields accurately, and require them to use them when performing this task. Then they need to continually and persistently enforce the face shield requirements. Doing so would have provided additional protection to the employee, even from the effects of the employee’s own actions.