Managers are responsible for worker health and safety in the manufacturing work environment. Injury prevention is mandatory to keep employees healthy and limit worker compensation. Injuries in the manufacturing work environment can be limited through the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Whereas the use of PPEs can significantly reduce accidents by 87 percent, there are still high incidences, about 88 percent of accidents related to not wearing PPEs (Gil, 2017). Safety performance in the manufacturing industry can be improved through periodical maintenance, inspections, audits, and training. This essay discusses why PPE in manufacturing industries stops injuries.
The work environment has changed drastically over the years. Safety is a primary issue for laborers. Workplace accidents mainly happen because of the lack of PPEs or lack of proper training on how to use them. The purpose of PPEs is to reduce employee exposure to workplace hazards or falls. Hazards can be anything from slippery floors, moving objects, debris, gases, flames, and chemicals. PPEs include items such as helmets, eye protection gear, safety harnesses, safety footwear, and respiratory equipment (Health and Safety Executive, n.d). There are organizations such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which document the safety guidelines industries have to follow in protecting workers. PPEs should be personalized to ensure they meet the physicality of employees.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Despite the great strides in improving occupational safety and health, approximately 317 million cases of non-fatal occupational injuries and 321,000 fatalities are recorded each year (Mock et al. 2017). For proper reduction of injuries in the manufacturing industries, PPE should be considered for industrial type, accident pattern, and causal factors. The considerations for PPE to prevent injury should include work designs. This aids in determining whether PPE is worn or not. Essential elements in injury reduction include safety policies, safety assurance, risk management, and safety promotion. The main focus of safety culture is a focus on the working environment, employee welfare, and legal requirements, including the use of PPE (Gunaseelan & Gerald, 2017).
In the manufacturing industry, the work environment can contain contaminants or pollutants harmful to workers' health. PPE is designed to protect people from the eye, ear, head, respiratory, body injuries, and falls. Employees should be trained on how to wear PPE and the work situations where they are necessary. Eye protection is essential for high-risk environments that contain toxic materials, sparks, or bright lights. Eye PPE includes goggles and visors. Respiratory equipment is crucial in the manufacturing industry as they protect workers from harmful vapors and gas masks. Prolonged exposure to toxic gases causes severe respiratory injuries and even death. Not every environment calls for ear protection. However, it is necessary for loud sounds or vapors that can affect people. PPE for ear protection includes earmuffs and helmets. In the manufacturing industry, a lot of contaminants may be produced, and therefore body protection is vital. Body PPEs include special suits and thick clothing. Handwear is necessary as employees’ interface with equipment in the manufacturing industries.
PPEs in manufacturing industries protect employees by reducing the mechanical effects of moving objects; for instance, safety harnesses protect workers from crank mechanisms. PPEs protect workers from exposure to electrical currents (Rumyantseva et al. 2019). They also protect the workers from elevated or low temperatures, aggressive and toxic chemicals, and injuries from falls. The objects of assessment in the injury safety factor include manufacturing equipment, fixed and moving tools, and availability of means of training and instruction (Rumyantseva et al. 2019). Increasing the effectiveness of PPEs usage includes placement of the PPE and the technical documentation of the equipment, including design and technology.
Training programs for using PPEs should be afforded to employees. According to the study by Nikulin, Ikonnikov, and Dolzhikov (2019), many employees get injured because they lack proper PPEs that are customized for their bodies. Training for PPEs should, therefore, be practical as much as theoretical to ensure the PPEs afforded to workers are the correct fit when they are working. The employees in the study asserted that having a lesser or oversized protective gear reduced the effectiveness of the equipment, opening them up to the risk of injury. The limitation also influenced employee effectiveness as some preferred to work without the protective gear.
Why injuries in manufacturing firms are high is because of the lack of or improper use of PPEs. According to a study by Okaro et al. (2019), the reason for the limited purpose of PPE is lack of knowledge on the usage and lack of PPEs altogether. Some of the respondents in the study cited discomfort using the PPE, and few thought PPEs are unnecessary. PPEs usage can, therefore, be increased through the proper education of employees. Employees should ensure their employers provide a more conducive environment for safety practices. Training and retraining practices can be useful in initiating the uncoerced use of PPEs (Okaro et al. 2019). Workers are encouraged to ask whether an organization has proper protection devices during employment so that they can be protected from hazardous injury.
In conclusion, PPEs are essential in protecting humans against health risks and hazards. Organizations should add PPEs to their safety controls. The selection and use of PPEs depend on who is exposed to what? How long are they exposed? And How much are they exposed to? The PPEs should be up to standards of regional or international governing bodies. Training employees on the usage of PPEs should be a periodical and mandatory exercise.
References
Gil, G. (2017). Characteristics of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Industry Accidents. Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea , 36 (6), 753-764. https://doi.org/10.5143/JESK.2017.36.6.753
Gunaseelan, V., & Gerald, L. A. (2017). Study on Safety Management System of Manufacturing Industry. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) 4(12)788-790. e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Health and Safety Executive (n.d). Risk at Work - Personal protective equipment (PPE)
https://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/ppe.htm
Mock, C. N., Smith, K. R., Kobusingye, O., Nugent, R., Abdalla, S., Ahuja, R. B., ... & Cantley, L. (2017). Injury prevention and environmental health: key messages from Disease Control Priorities. Injury Prevention and Environmental Health , 1.
Nikulin, A., Ikonnikov, D., & Dolzhikov, I. (2019). Smart Personal Protective Equipment in the Coal Mining Industry. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology , 10 (4), 852-863. ISSN Print: 0976-6308
Okaro, A., Analo, C., Onyemachi, P., Ekeleme, N., Iwe, E., ... & Onyeyili, A. (2019). An Assessment of Supply, Use, and Factors that Hinder the use of Personal Protective Equipment in Medium Scale Manufacturing Industries in Anambra State South-East Nigeria. Scholars International Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine ISSN 2616-8634
Rumyantseva, N., Primak, E., Uljanov, A., & Kiss, V. (2019, October). Assessment of an occupational risk using injury safety indicators. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 666(1)012090. IOP Publishing. https://doi:10.1088/1757-899X/666/1/012090
