Understanding what the various Types of Skin
Protective
Equipment are and how to use them
By: The working Man
Protective Skin Equipment protects you from harmful contamination
by biological and chemical hazards. It also protects you by
preventing the transfer of hazards to yourself, and others when
you are off-site.
The level of PPE required to protect your skin is outlined in the
HASP or Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response from
the U.S. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
or OSHA. OSHA standards will show you levels of
possible
conditions and contaminations at job sites so you or your
employer can determine what type of skin protection you should be
wearing to do that particular job safely.
If an employee works around hazardous chemicals, biological
material or extremely hot substances there are some standard
guidelines for particular work site conditions that you must
follow to protect yourself. Body protection or personal
protective equipment for the skin or body is essential under
these circumstances.
Here are some things that you should not do:
- Wear Loose Clothing (i.e. dangling neckties, baggy pants or
shirts, scarves, etc.)
- Wear long unrestrained hair
- Wear jewelry of any type
- Wear Leather
Loose clothing, long hair that is unrestrained and jewelry pose
hazards to you on this type of job site. Loose clothing can
become snagged on equipment or stuck in machinery. Long hair
poses the same problem as loose clothing with sometimes worse
results and damage to the body.
Jewelry can also become ensnared in machinery or snagged on
objects. Rings worn on the fingers in particular pose a problem
because they can damage PPE gloves and chemicals or hazardous
substances can become trapped under the rings.
If you wear leather accessories (watchbands, shoes, belts and
such), chemical spills can be especially dangerous since leather
can absorb chemicals. Then when you wear the leather close to
your skin you may get a bad chemical burn or a serious allergic
reaction, or even be poisoned, depending on the chemicals to
which you are exposed. If you forget and wear leather and a spill
occurs, the leather items must be immediately removed and often
must be discarded to prevent the possibility of chemical burns.
Please continue to Part 2, Disposable
Work Clothing
Back to Clothes & Accessories for Working Men
