Why Companies Should Take Personal Protective Equipment Seriously

Drive along any busy highway and you’ll surely see officers wearing high-visibility vests. Visit a construction or surveying site and you’ll see people wearing hard hats, protective eyewear, and other types of garments that cover and protect different parts of their body.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) are absolute necessities in various types of jobs. However, not all employers and employees understand what they’re for or why they need PPE in the first place. In this article, we will look into some of the most significant reasons that back-up the importance of PPE--but first, a brief overview:

PPE comes in various types, categories, and classes. Companies implement various steps to choose a personal protective equipment set for workers, but the common denominator is that they must first assess the hazards and risks to which their workers are exposed. Once this assessment is done, companies can objectively choose the types of PPE that suit their unique conditions. 

Some examples of PPE are high-visibility vests, headwear, hard hats, goggles, pants, gaiters, rainwear, and more. Why are these necessary? Let’s find out.

Because it is every employer’s responsibility to promote occupational safety

Occupational safety is an obligation of employers. Despite employees having responsibilities to do their best to maintain and promote safety, such tasks are first given to employers based on the safety framework and guidelines of OSHA, ANSI, and other relevant regulatory bodies.

Companies that don’t comply with PPE standards can be penalized, and they will likely face serious legal cases in the event that accidents that are preventable by PPE occur.

Because some hazards cannot be totally eliminated

PPE are intended to protect their wearers, not eliminate hazards or potential causes of untoward incidents. As such, one could say that wearing PPE is only a piece of the puzzle. Companies can do so much more, like setting up mitigative and preventive measures that reduce or eliminate hazards.

However, not all hazards can be eliminated. Some hazards are inevitably part of certain jobs, like heavy debris at construction sites and struck-by hazards at jobs at or near roadways. For situations like this, a proper PPE set is one of the best protection that workers can have.

Because most work-related injuries are irreversible

It’s easy to take safety lightly, especially when workers take certain dangers as unlikely to cause serious harm. However, statistics would prove that work-related hazards can indeed cause serious harm--not only that, but most of them are also irreversible.

According to some studies, 90% of work-related eye injuries could have been prevented by protective eyeglasses and that 80% of workers who had head injuries were not wearing appropriate protective headwear while on duty. This, plus several other figures related to work-related accidents, support the importance of wearing PPE. 

Because workers need to be healthy for their personal lives too

Lastly, it’s important to raise the truth that workers are not just workers. They are family members, friends, and are parts of various circles where they contribute and grow both personally and professionally. As much as they have to be healthy to accomplish their jobs, they must also be healthy for the people, hobbies, and other things or activities that they value.

Safety is a concern of employers, employees, families, and society at large. As such, there’s no good reason why it should be taken lightly.