Individuals are not excellent and infrequently make mistakes. We take shortcuts, forget methods to do things, or turn out to be distracted at times once we shouldn’t. In most elements of our lives, these aren’t things that have dire consequences. At work, nevertheless, surrounded by hazards, these types of mistakes can alter lives, even finish them. So, although human beings should not perfect, we have to make our safety programs as close to perfect as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a facet of safety where folks are likely to make many mistakes, and for a wide range of reasons. Typically, 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, will we lose sight (no pun supposed) of protecting our faces? Definitely, eye protection is important, since eye accidents can lead to everlasting blindness. Equally essential is head protection, preventing fatal head accidents the perfect that we can. Face accidents may not seem as significant a priority. They don’t have the immediate, permanent, and probably deadly penalties of the others. With that said, although, an employer’s accountability is to protect all elements of their workers, including their faces.
That responsibility contains figuring out tasks where face shields should be used, providing face shields for workers to use, training them to use face shields correctly, and to appropriate staff when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The primary parts are easy. Our workers will make mistakes. Correcting those mistakes and imposing your organization’s face shield requirements is an essential a part of an effective PPE program. Sadly, too typically, this facet of the PPE program will not be enforced till after an worker is injured.
Situations to Use Face Shields
Consider the following situations the place face shields should have been used, and the implications for the injured workers and their employers.
An employee was filling ammonia nurse tanks from a bulk plant. The employee was distracted while closing the valves, and mistakenly turned the fallacious valve, causing a pressure release within the line. The discharge of anhydrous ammonia splashed on the employee’s face. The worker was hospitalized for chemical burns on and around the face.
An employee was putting in a water pipe at a multifamily residential construction project. The worker initially was operating an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to cut a ten-inch water pipe with a reduce-off saw. The saw kicked back and struck the worker’s face. Co-workers called emergency companies, who transported the worker to the hospital. The employee was admitted to the hospital and treated for facial lacerations that prolonged from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
Within the first state of affairs, the worker suffered serious chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical publicity, the extent of the chemical burns, and presumably may have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the employee’s face. Sure, the employee turned the flawed valve, but does that mean that the employer is absolved of all responsibility for this incident? After all not. The very fact remains that the employer should provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train staff to use the face shields correctly, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they have to continually and persistently 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.