Personal Protective Equipment: What Is It And How Does It Improve Workplace Safety

The most important thing your workplace should possess is safety. Your job should make you feel safe, and it should not put your overall well-being at risk. Certain jobs will require you to equip safety clothing or gears to ensure your protection while working. An employer should provide protective equipment, especially to the industries that will comprise their health.

Likewise, if you are a worker or a job hunter, it would be best to recognize the industries you are working in. So, you can be aware of the possible risks of your field and be better prepared. Read more to this article so you can better understand personal protective equipment and determine which work fields will need them.

What is Personal Protective Equipment?

More easily known as PPE, personal protective equipment protects the user against possible health or safety risks at work. It minimizes exposure to hazards and illnesses and avoids injuries from chemical, radiological, electrical, mechanical, and other workplace dangers.

Every industry has different levels of risk and will require different levels of safety. PPE also varies from head to toe to ensure that your whole body is protected. It usually includes safety helmets, high-visibility clothing, earplugs, bodysuits, and safety shoes. Again, there are more types of protective equipment that are appropriate for particular fields.

What Workfields Will Require PPE?

Construction Industry

This industry constantly exposes its workers to hazards, slips, and mishaps that may happen. Moreover, it is for the fact that construction sites hold many potential threats, and wearing PPE can be the workers’ primary protection gear. One must wear them properly to protect them from possible injuries and minimize the risks thoroughly.

Basic personal gear for the construction industry would be protective headwear as protection for falling objects, safety footwear to avoid punctures, face or eye protection, and hearing gear. With a lot of things going on in construction sites, your senses might have trouble sensing danger. PPE such as those mentioned above can greatly reduce the chance of a person getting injured while working.

Chemical Industry

Chemical plant workers do their job, frequently exposed to possibly dangerous chemicals. Usual risks are from fumes, gases, and vapors. These may spill or infiltrate the air and can be an immediate risk to the workers’ health. The worst cases would be burns, blisters, or death. So, everyone is required to wear one when entering this work field.

As PPE varies in industry, the equipment for the chemical industry will also depend on the type of chemicals they handle. Still, the workers should wear them correctly all the same. A sample type of PPE would be a chemical-resistant glove that should be suitable in size and perfectly fit the worker.

Manufacturing Industry

The manufacturing industry is one of the fields that require the heavy deployment of PPE. Since it is a dynamic field, some workers constantly switch from hard hats to welding helmets to safety goggles. Since this industry requires moving around, there was a misconception that wearing protective gear can hinder the workers’ productivity.

Fortunately, this issue has been resolved, and regulations have become more strict in employing personal protective protocol to ensure worker safety. Moreover, workers are less likely to wear equipment that can limit their movement. Even so, they have standard protective gears that they wear that still minimize hazard exposure.

Healthcare Industry

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for PPE in the healthcare industry has significantly increased. PPE helps prevent the spread of the virus and any other hazard from one person to another. In simple terms, the equipment serves as a barrier between the healthcare worker and the infected patient.

The usual PPE in the healthcare industry are protective gowns, masks, gloves, and more. Since the equipment can be infected, especially when in contact with bodily fluids, workers dispose of them right after using them. The disposable is also highly protected not to spread germs, bacteria, or viruses.

Oil And Gas Industry

Like any other field in this list, the oil and gas industry also deals with a wide variety of hazards in their daily tasks. There are frontline workers in this job industry, and they are usually the ones that directly handle the oil and gas sector, which is complete exposure to a huge quantity of deadly chemicals for a long time. Additionally, there are other workers in the industry that are exposed to these chemicals.

The primary PPE of the oil and gas workers are clothing and gears resistant to fire because the hazards they handle are highly flammable. Also, steel toe boots, protective glasses, and hard hats are used for people assigned to oil rig locations.

Takeaway

Every job can be demanding to our well-being and especially to people who stay in their workplace from day to night daily. That is why one must be mindful and careful when working in various fields since hazards are primarily present in every job. However, it does not mean you cannot prevent it.

Personal protective equipment is a way for you to feel more secure and work more safely on your tasks. Again, just because it can happen, does not mean it will happen to you too. So, work safely and securely.