PPE in full is Personal Protective Equipment. It is clothing or equipment designed to protect workers from physical hazards on a work site. According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States of America, controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to protect employees. This means therefore that physically controlling or stopping a hazard is the best option for example, erecting a barrier between the hazard and the worker can ensure safety or protection from potential hazard before PPE even comes into play.
PPE should only be considered as a last line of defense between a hazard and the worker.
PPE can be hard hats, gloves, safety goggles, protective clothing, earplugs, or any other piece of equipment that protects workers’ bodies from injury. Safety conscious companies should always provide PPE for their employees to protect them from job site hazards. It should be given free of charge to employees, should be fully functional and should fit properly.
When working around machinery, construction equipment, or any other unsafe hazard on the job, PPE should ALWAYS be worn. This is especially true when operating at work sites in mining, construction, manufacturing, engineering and many other high risk work environments where safety is key!
We can’t stress this enough, PPE should only be used as a supplement to stopping hazards and should not be the only line of defense against them.
How is your company’s health and safety culture? Are your people aware? Are measures in place to protect your employees from injury and death as well as protect your profits from unnecessary lawsuits & expenses? If not, we can help you fix the state of your QHSE.
Start the conversation with any of our offices in UGANDA, KENYA, RWANDA, TANZANIA OR SOUTH SUDAN today.
