Page 32 - Occupational Health & Safety, November/December 2019

VISION PROTECTION
What to Look for in Head-to-Toe PPE Solutions
Selecting the right head-to-toe PPE solutions is the first step in keeping laborers safe in the most extreme conditions.
BY JIM BAILEY
From oil rigs to shipping docks, factory floors to refineries, the world’s laborers rely on head-to-toe personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep them safe while working in
some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. When it comes to selecting PPE, it’s critical to provide work- ers with effective solutions that will stand up against the hardest work, the highest safety standards and the best possible comfort while on the job.
Securing the ideal PPE for your specific work- ing environment will not only help ensure that your workers are protected from injury, but it can also pay off in other ways, leading to improved employee mo- rale, higher productivity and lower turnover for your company. Here are some pointers on what to look for when selecting PPE solutions, specifically for the safe- ty of workers’ eyes, hands, bodies and feet.
Protective Eyewear
Thousands of people are blinded each year from work-related eye injuries that could have been pre- vented with the proper selection and use of eye and face protection, according to OSHA.1 The majority of eye injuries result from small particles or objects striking or scraping the eye, such as dust, cement chips, metal slivers and wood chips. These materi- als are often ejected by tools, windblown or fall from above a worker.
OSHA’s eye protection standard, 29 CFR 1910.133, requires the use of eye protection when workers are exposed to eye hazards such as flying objects, mol- ten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.2 The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the organization that certifies eyewear. The
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