Individuals are not good and infrequently make mistakes. We take shortcuts, forget tips on how to do things, or turn out to be distracted at instances after we shouldn’t. In most aspects 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 should not good, we have to make our safety programs as close to good as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an aspect of safety where individuals are inclined to make many errors, and for a wide range of reasons. Usually, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us proof against injury. With as a lot emphasis as we place on eye protection and head protection, will we lose sight (no pun intended) of protecting our faces? Certainly, eye protection is important, since eye accidents can lead to everlasting blindness. Equally necessary is head protection, preventing fatal head accidents the perfect that we can. Face accidents could not seem as significant a priority. They do not have the quick, permanent, and probably deadly penalties of the others. With that said, though, an employer’s accountability is to protect all parts of their workers, including their faces.
That responsibility includes figuring out tasks where face shields should be used, providing face shields for employees to make use of, training them to make use of face shields accurately, and to right workers when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The first parts are easy. Our employees will make mistakes. Correcting these errors and imposing your organization’s face shield necessities is an essential part of an efficient 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 next situations where 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 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 around the face.
An worker 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 chop a 10-inch water pipe with a reduce-off saw. The noticed kicked back and struck the employee’s face. Co-workers called emergency companies, 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.
In the first situation, the employee suffered severe chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical publicity, the extent of the chemical burns, and probably might have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the employee’s face. Yes, the employee turned the flawed valve, but does that imply that the employer is absolved of all duty for this incident? In fact not. The fact remains that the employer ought to provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train staff to use the face shields accurately, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they have to continually and consistently implement the face shield requirements. Doing so would have provided additional protection to the employee, even from the effects of the employee’s own actions.