People are not excellent and infrequently make mistakes. We take shortcuts, overlook how to do things, or turn into distracted at times when we shouldn’t. In most points of our lives, these usually are not things that have dire consequences. At work, nevertheless, surrounded by hazards, these types of mistakes can alter lives, even end them. So, despite the fact that human beings are not excellent, we have to make our safety programs as near perfect as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a side of safety the place individuals tend to make many errors, and for quite a lot of reasons. Usually, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us proof against 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? Actually, eye protection is necessary, since eye accidents can lead to permanent blindness. Equally vital is head protection, preventing fatal head accidents the very best that we can. Face injuries could not seem as significant a priority. They don’t have the rapid, permanent, and potentially deadly consequences of the others. With that said, although, an employer’s responsibility is to protect all elements of their employees, including their faces.
That duty contains identifying tasks the place face shields needs to be used, providing face shields for employees to use, training them to make use of face shields appropriately, and to correct staff when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The primary components are easy. Our workers will make mistakes. Correcting those errors and imposing your organization’s face shield requirements is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Sadly, too typically, this aspect of the PPE program is just not enforced until after an worker is injured.
Situations to Use Face Shields
Consider the following situations where face shields ought to have been used, and the consequences for the injured workers and their employers.
An employee was filling ammonia nurse tanks from a bulk plant. The worker was distracted while closing the valves, and mistakenly turned the unsuitable valve, inflicting a pressure release within the line. The release of anhydrous ammonia splashed on the employee’s face. The worker was hospitalized for chemical burns on and around the face.
An worker was installing a water pipe at a multifamily residential construction project. The employee initially was operating an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to chop a ten-inch water pipe with a minimize-off saw. The saw kicked back and struck the worker’s face. Co-workers called emergency providers, who transported the employee to the hospital. The worker was admitted to the hospital and treated for facial lacerations that extended from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
Within the first scenario, the worker suffered serious chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical publicity, the extent of the chemical burns, and probably could have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the worker’s face. Yes, the worker turned the incorrect valve, however does that imply that the employer is absolved of all duty for this incident? In fact not. The fact stays that the employer ought to provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train workers to make use of the face shields correctly, and require them to use them when performing this task. Then they must continually 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.