Individuals are not excellent and sometimes make mistakes. We take shortcuts, neglect the way to do things, or become distracted at occasions when we shouldn’t. In most facets of our lives, these are usually not things that have dire consequences. At work, nevertheless, surrounded by hazards, these types of mistakes can alter lives, even end them. So, even though human beings usually are 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 a side of safety the place people are inclined to make many mistakes, and for quite a lot of reasons. Typically, 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 supposed) of protecting our faces? Actually, eye protection is necessary, since eye accidents can lead to permanent blindness. Equally essential is head protection, stopping fatal head injuries the best that we can. Face injuries may not appear as significant a priority. They don’t have the rapid, permanent, and potentially deadly consequences of the others. With that said, though, an employer’s duty is to protect all parts of their staff, including their faces.
That duty contains figuring out tasks the place face shields must be used, providing face shields for employees to use, training them to use face shields appropriately, and to appropriate employees when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The first elements are easy. Our employees will make mistakes. Correcting these errors and imposing your organization’s face shield necessities is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Sadly, too typically, this aspect of the PPE program isn’t enforced until after an employee is injured.
Situations to Use Face Shields
Consider the following situations where face shields ought to have been used, and the results 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 fallacious valve, causing a pressure launch 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 employee was putting in a water pipe at a multifamily residential building 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 worker’s face. Co-workers called emergency companies, who transported the employee 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 critical 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 fallacious valve, but does that mean that the employer is absolved of all accountability for this incident? Of course not. The very fact remains that the employer ought to provide employees filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train employees to use the face shields correctly, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they have to regularly and consistently implement the face shield requirements. Doing so would have provided additional protection to the worker, even from the effects of the employee’s own actions.
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