Face Shields Proper Usage
People are not perfect and infrequently make mistakes. We take shortcuts, forget methods to do things, or grow to be distracted at times after we shouldn’t. In most elements of our lives, these are not things which have dire consequences. At work, however, surrounded by hazards, these types of mistakes can alter lives, even finish them. So, although human beings are usually not perfect, we need to make our safety programs as close to good as we can.
PPE Focus: Face Shields
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a facet of safety where individuals are inclined to make many mistakes, and for a variety of reasons. Typically, we think that the mere wearing of PPE makes us proof against injury. With as much emphasis as we place on eye protection and head protection, do we lose sight (no pun meant) of protecting our faces? Actually, eye protection is vital, since eye accidents can lead to permanent blindness. Equally essential is head protection, preventing deadly head accidents the best that we can. Face injuries might not appear as significant a priority. They do not have the rapid, everlasting, and doubtlessly fatal penalties of the others. With that said, although, an employer’s responsibility is to protect all parts of their employees, together with their faces.
That duty consists of figuring out tasks the place face shields ought to be used, providing face shields for employees to use, training them to use face shields correctly, and to right workers when face shields are used incorrectly or not used at all. The primary components are easy. Our employees will make mistakes. Correcting these errors and implementing your company’s face shield requirements is an essential a part of an efficient PPE program. Unfortunately, too often, this side of the PPE program will not be enforced till after an employee is injured.
Situations to Use Face Shields
Consider the next situations the place face shields ought to have been used, and the consequences for the injured workers and their employers.
An employee was filling ammonia nurse tanks from a bulk plant. The worker was distracted while closing the valves, and mistakenly turned the mistaken valve, causing a pressure release within the line. The release of anhydrous ammonia splashed on the employee’s face. The worker was hospitalized for chemical burns on and across the face.
An worker was installing a water pipe at a multifamily residential building project. The worker initially was working an excavator, then climbed down from the excavator to cut a 10-inch water pipe with a lower-off saw. The noticed kicked back and struck the worker’s face. Co-workers called emergency services, who transported the employee to the hospital. The worker was admitted to the hospital and treated for facial lacerations that prolonged from underneath the left eye to underneath the jaw.
Within the first scenario, the worker suffered severe chemical burns. A face shield would have significantly reduced the chemical publicity, the extent of the chemical burns, and probably may have prevented any ammonia from splashing on the worker’s face. Yes, the employee turned the improper valve, but does that mean that the employer is absolved of all responsibility for this incident? Of course not. The fact remains that the employer ought to provide staff filling ammonia nurse tanks with face shields, train staff to use the face shields accurately, and require them to make use of them when performing this task. Then they must continually and constantly implement the face shield requirements. Doing so would have provided additional protection to the employee, even from the effects of the worker’s own actions.
