PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

What Is PPE ?

• Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers.

• It shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition.

• Necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants.

A Need To Understand PPE

• Understand the types of PPE.

• Select appropriate PPE for a variety of circumstances.

• Understand what kind of training is needed in the proper use and care of PPE.

• To ensure the greatest possible protection for employees in the workplace.

• To establish and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment.

COMMON WORKPLACE INJURIES

1.Mechanical

• Cutting

• Shearing

• Crushing

• Breaking

• Straining & Spraining

• Puncturing

2.Falling & Slipping

• Trip & Fall

• Stump & Fall

• Step & Fall

• Slip & Fall

3.Temperatures Extremes

• Heat Stress

• Heat Strain

• Cold Stress

• Burns

• Chemical Burns

SAFETY FACT “Company Pays the Price”

Failure to properly guard machines can be costly to employers and tragic to employees. This is a lesson a manufacturing firm in Illinois learned when an employee working on an unguarded power press lost 3 fingers. OSHA had cited the company for failure:

(i) to use sensors and guards on dangerous parts of machines,

(ii) periodically inspect machines to ensure they are properly guarded, and

(iii) properly train and supervise machine operators.

CHOOSING CORRECT PPE

PPE Includes:

• Eye & Face Protection

• Hand Protection

• Head Protection

• Foot & Leg Protection

• Ear Protection

1.EYE & FACE PROTECTION

• Prevention of eye injuries requires that all persons who may be in eye hazard areas wear protective eyewear.

• Includes employees, visitors, researchers, contractors, or others passing through an identified eye hazard area.

• Supervisors of such areas shall procure a sufficient quantity of goggles and/or plastic eye protectors which afford the maximum amount of protection possible.

• If these personnel wear personal glasses, they shall be provided with a suitable eye protector to wear over them.

• For more severe hazards, full face protection is needed. Examples: heavy grinding and heavy spraying or splashing.

• Due to the wide opening on the sides and bottom of the face shield, protective eyewear must be worn along with the face shield.

Types of eye and face protection

• Safety Spectacles

• with safety frames from metal / plastic and impact-resistant lenses, and side shields

• Goggles

• tight-fitting eye protection that completely cover the eyes, eye sockets and the facial area, provide protection from impact, dust and splashes

• Welding Shields

• vulcanized fibre or fibreglass fitted with a filtered lens, protect eyes from burns caused by infrared or intense

• radiant light, flying sparks, metal spatter and slag chips

• produced during welding, brazing, soldering and cutting.

• Laser safety goggles

• protect against intense concentrations of light produced by lasers, (depend on the equipment and operating conditions in the workplace).

2.HAND AND ARM PROTECTION

Potential hazards include:

• skin absorption of harmful substances

• chemical or thermal burns

• electrical dangers, bruises, abrasions

• cuts, punctures, fractures and amputations.

GLOVE

For protection against chemicals, glove selection must be based on the:

• Chemicals encountered

• Chemicals resistant

• Physical properties of the glove material

Hand & Arm Protective Equipments

• Gloves - fall into 4 groups:

(i) Gloves made of leather, canvas or metal mesh - provide protection against cuts and burns.

(ii) Fabric gloves - protect against dirt, slivers, chafing and abrasions and Coated fabric gloves - for tasks ranging from handling bricks and wire to chemical laboratory containers.

(iii) Chemical and liquid-resistant gloves (example):

Butyl gloves made of a synthetic rubber - to resist oxidation, ozone corrosion and abrasion, and remain flexible at low temperatures.

(iv) Insulating rubber gloves - for electrical workers

Hand and Arm Protective Equipments

• Finger guards and arm coverings

• Elbow-length gloves

• Machine guards –Installing a barrier to prevent workers from placing their hands at the point of contact between a table saw blade and the item being cut.

3.HEAD PROTECTION

• A small tool or bolt falling from 10 to 20 m high can cause serious injuries or even death.

• Hard hats are necessary to protect workers against hazards that include falling objects and overhead hazards in general.

Hard Hats

• Hard hats first used for industrial setting were inspired by the helmets worn by soldiers in World War 1.

• However approximately 120,000 people sustain head injuries on the job each year by falling objects, in spite many of victims were wearing hard hats.

• This statistics have been the driving force for development of tougher & more durable hats.

• Today’s hat typically made of thermoplastic material polyethylene.

• They are designed to limit the impact to the top of the head, thus reduce the amount of impact transmitted to head, neck, and spine.

SAFETY FACTS

SHE professionals should take the weather into account when considering potential hazards in workplace. On a job site in Lynbrook, N.Y. An object was blown off a high surface by the windstorm. As it fell, the object’s rate of speed accelerated, making the object lethal. It struck an employee working below in the head, killing him. The employee wasn’t wearing any type of head protection at that time. His employee cited by OSHA for failure to provide employees with PPE and fined.

4.FOOT & LEG PROTECTION

Situations in which an employee should wear foot and/or leg protection include:

• When heavy objects such as barrels or tools might roll onto or fall on the employee’s feet.

• Working with sharp objects such as nails or spikes that could pierce the soles or uppers of ordinary shoes.

• Exposure to molten metal that might splash on feet or legs.

• Working on or around hot, wet or slippery surfaces.

• Working when electrical hazards are present.

Types of Foot & Leg Protection

• Leggings – protect the lower legs and feet from heat hazards such as molten metal or welding sparks.

• Metatarsal guards – protect the instep area from impact and compression, made of aluminium, steel, fibre or plastic, may be strapped to the outside of shoes.

• Toe guards - fit over the toes of regular shoes to protect the toes from impact and compression hazards, made of steel, aluminium or plastic.

• Safety shoes – have impact-resistant toes and heat-resistant soles that protect the feet against hot work surfaces common in roofing, paving and hot metal industries.

Ear Protection

• Single-use earplugs :

made of waxed cotton, foam, silicone rubber or fibreglass wool.

when properly inserted, they work as well as most moulded earplugs.

• Moulded earplugs :

must be individually fitted by a professional and can be disposable or reusable. Reusable plugs should be cleaned after each use.

• Earmuffs :

require a perfect seal around the ear.

Better attenuation of noise.

Glasses, facial hair, long hair or facial movements such as chewing may reduce the protective value of earmuffs.

GOOD SAFETY PRACTICES

• Management awareness, Be an observer – stay alert.

• Good housekeeping!!!

• Development of a safety culture - Inspect work area daily.

• Effective reporting procedures - Report safety issues to the safety committee.

• Good record keeping - Report any injuries, accidents or illness.

• Using the right equipment, in the right way for the right job - Use your best safety device – THINK!

• Compliance with health and safety law.

• Using Approved Codes of Practice.

• Management and staff health and safety training.