Individuals are not perfect and sometimes make mistakes. We take shortcuts, forget how one can do things, or turn out to be distracted at times after we shouldn’t. In most points of our lives, these should not things that have dire consequences. At work, nevertheless, surrounded by hazards, these types of errors can alter lives, even end them. So, regardless 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 an aspect of safety the place people are inclined to make many errors, and for a variety of reasons. Often, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us immune to injury. With as much emphasis as we place on eye protection and head protection, do we lose sight (no pun meant) of protecting our faces? Actually, eye protection is important, since eye accidents can lead to everlasting blindness. Equally vital is head protection, stopping deadly head injuries the perfect that we can. Face accidents might not appear as significant a priority. They don’t have the immediate, permanent, and probably deadly consequences of the others. With that said, though, an employer’s accountability is to protect all components of their workers, including their faces.
That accountability contains identifying tasks the place face shields needs to be used, providing face shields for employees to make use of, training them to make use of face shields accurately, and to correct staff when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The first components are easy. Our staff will make mistakes. Correcting those errors and implementing your organization’s face shield requirements is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Unfortunately, too typically, this facet of the PPE program shouldn’t be enforced until after an employee is injured.
Conditions to Use Face Shields
Consider the following conditions the place face shields ought to have been used, and the implications 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 employee was hospitalized for chemical burns on and across the face.
An employee was installing a water pipe at a multifamily residential building project. The worker initially was working an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to cut a ten-inch water pipe with a cut-off saw. The noticed kicked back and struck the employee’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 prolonged from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
In 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 could have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the worker’s face. Sure, the worker turned the fallacious valve, but does that imply that the employer is absolved of all duty for this incident? In fact not. The actual fact remains that the employer should provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train employees to make use of the face shields correctly, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they must regularly 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.