In any workplace, accidents and hazards are inevitable. Yes, efforts can be made to minimise their occurrence but they cannot entirely be avoided from happening. This is where PPE or Personnel Protective Equipment comes into the picture. PPE is the safety gear or equipment that is worn by a firm’s employees so they can safeguard themselves from injuries in the workplace. PPE has helped prevent numerous accidents which can be potentially fatal too.
Some common examples of PPE are:
- Goggles
- Protective clothing
- Helmets
- Boots
- Gloves
- Earplugs
- Face masks
- Shields
- Respirators
- Hard hats
- Safety vests
- Coveralls
Mostly used at construction sites and at manufacturing jobs, PPE not only helps keep the workers safe and healthy but also helps reduce downtime on productivity or efficiency that might have existed had there been an accident or mishap on the job site.
Importance of PPE
When engineering controls and administrative measures fail to protect the workers, PPE helps reduce their exposure to hazards and risks. Such hazards include wet floors, heights, falling objects, loud noises etc. Given below are some major areas where PPE protects the employees of a firm:
- Head Protection
Commonly used on construction sites, equipment such as hard hats and helmets protect workers from falling or flying objects that can potentially hurt them badly.
- Eye Protection
Safety goggles and spectacles are used to minimise the risk of eye damage. They are mainly used in wood or metal workshops.
- Respiratory Protection
Used on sites where the presence of toxic substances and fumes is prevalent. Respirators safeguard workers from gases, fumes, dust, paint sprays, pesticides etc.
- Hand Protection
Different types of gloves such as runner gloves, latex gloves, heat resistant gloves, chainsaw gloves etc keep the hands of the workers safe and secure, depending on the type of job that is being done.
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Responsibilities of the upper management
Safety-related policy regulations dictate companies to provide their employees and workers with PPE and they need to mandatorily comply with these regulations. They can either provide the workers with PPE directly or have them arranged without causing any cost burden on the employee. It is always better to provide PPE that is easy to maintain, convenient and comfortable.
Given below are some other key responsibilities of the managers:
- It is also the responsibility of the management to assign a person who is competent enough to decide if PPE is actually required or not and if it is, what will be the items that will constitute the PPE that is the suitable type of PPE for various tasks at hand in the manufacturing cycle or supply chain.
- The managers are also supposed to train both the employees and their supervisors how to select, use, clean and maintain the safety equipment. New employees should receive beginner’s training and older employees should receive refresher training at regular intervals.
- As already established use of PPE is mandatory by law and must be enforced effectively in order to not violate the safety policy of the company. This means bringing up the correct and proper usage of PPE regularly in meetings etc and taking strict action if an employee fails to abide by the PPE regulations.
- In addition to the enforcement, regular evaluation of the PPE program effectiveness more or less rounds up the list of duties and responsivities of the management when it comes to PPE.
It is not permitted by law to forego the use of PPE and hence both the employer and the employee cannot take it lightly. It is always better to be safe than sorry as accidents can happen in a split second.
