Page 11 - Occupational Health & Safety, November 2017

head protective products are required in workplaces of all kinds. Training on use of the PPE and the hazards is still necessary, and companies should start the process of selecting and having workers use the head and face PPE by making a comprehensive assessment of eye and face hazards and choosing PPE to protect
against each of them.
They should then require that the appropriate PPE is worn by
affected workers, that they both wear it and maintain it when and how they should, and that no one is exposed to the hazards without wearing that protection.
Conducting the Hazard Assessment
A hazard assessment is simply the investigation of a task and the hazards and potential hazards associated with it. Doing this right allows you to specify protective eyewear, sideshields, faceshields, hard hats, hearing protection, and other PPE that will be effective.
You can conduct a hazard assessment for one employee who performs a single task or groups of employees who perform the same task, such as welders who are exposed to ultraviolet radiation during one type of welding or laboratory workers who are exposed to chemical splashes. The person who conducts the hazard assess- ment must have an intimate knowledge of each task and should directly observe the employees, looking for hazard sources such as high temperatures, chemicals, dust, sources for falling objects and the potential for dropped objects, the potential for struck/by haz- ards, moving vehicles and equipment, and more.
Many safety manufacturers have focused in recent years on products to prevent tools and other objects from being dropped from heights. Dropped objects are a serious concern for oil and gas companies because they’re a leading cause of injuries—so much so that a compendium of best practices to prevent drops has been developed this year by oil and gas professionals and posted at http://dropsonline.org/assets/documents/DROPS-Recommended- Practice-2017.pdf.
It’s must reading, covering everything from risk assessments and the hierarchy of controls to training, inspections, and trans- porting equipment and loads, and it offers checklists, a link to a DROPS calculator, and sample management of change forms.
Key Standards
The important consensus standards in this area include:
■ ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2015, American National Standard for Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices. The standard prescribes performance specifications for
products such as eyewear, faceshields, and welding helmets.
■ ANSI/ISEA Z89.1-2014, American National Standard for Industrial Head Protection. This standard provides performance and testing requirements for industrial hard hats, both Type I for top protection and Type II for protection against lateral impacts.
Jerry Laws is the editor of Occupational Health & Safety.
wwwU.notihtlesdo-4nli1ne.com
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