Personal Protective Equipment Essay

Personal Protective Equipment is of major significance in workplaces all over the world. As the use of personal protective equipment is important, it’s only an extra form of protection, necessary where all hazards haven’t been controlled through other means. Personal protective equipment consists of a range of clothing and equipment, which is to shield worker’s bodies from workplace hazards. It is widely used to decrease the exposure of employees to hazards, and to avoid employees from illness or injuries while at work. Employees are accountable for wearing the personal protective equipment properly and using the necessary protection for their tasks. Although there are several types of personal protective equipment used in a workplace, three of which are very essential and should be used correctly in order for the employee to have the ideal protection. They are protection to your eyes, head and ears (noise). Loud, extreme noise can damage an employee’s hearing ability if he or she is not using the right type of protection to prevent the noise. It is extremely important to have the right kind of personal protective equipment for your ears to protect them from the loud noises. There are three main types of ear protection used in a workplace. Earplugs are the most frequently used to help keep the noise level down. Some of which are disposable that are made to fit into the ear canal just right, and reusable earplugs, which tend to be more dependable than the disposable ear plugs. Types of pre-formed earplugs, called canal caps, are also used vastly. They are usually attached to a headpiece because they might get lost if they were not properly attached. Earmuffs for hardhats are also a good form of ear protection. When employees are in extremely loud and noisy places, they have a tendency to wear the earplugs and earmuffs at the same time. Ear protection generally filters out the stable unnecessary noise; making is safer to work in loud workplaces. Some people do not understand how loud the noise actually is to them, and how dangerous the noise could be when exposed to them without the appropriate type of protection. That is why it is very important to be wearing the right kind of ear protection in certain situations where it is loud in the workplace. Another main kind of personal protective equipment is protection for the  eyes. It is very important for people to avoid damage to their eyes, so it is essential to have the correct form of eye protection while in a workplace that may be dangerous to the eyes. There are several different types of eye protection, some of which include; goggles, safety glasses, face shields and helmets. For those people who wear glasses, they are able to get prescription safety eyewear so they can see well and still have safety to their eyes. Since there are different potential dangers to a person’s eyes, such as chemical splashes, and light rays, employees have to be sure to wear the correct type of eye protection while in their workplace. A person’s eyes can be severely damaged at a work place if they are not wearing the appropriate type of eye protection for the specific task in which they are doing. It is also very important to follow the safety steps while using the eye protection and doing your job. The chief kind of protection and injuries that all employees should be aware of is head protection and injuries to the head and how to avoid them. A key type of protection for an employee’s head is a hard head. A hard hat is a hat that has an outer shell to seize things that are going to strike you and an inner suspension system that absorbs the force to further protect your head. It is widely necessary for employees to wear protection on their head at all times while in their workplace. People can be hospitalized or even killed from head injuries, just from something falling out of nowhere and hitting someone on the head. A hard hat is the most widely used protection for the head, but there are also several different types of head protection available for different types of work and jobs. An employee doing a type of work dealing with flames and sparks, they tend to wear a skullcap that is flame resistant and protects the person from sparks that might fly up. When an employee is working in a place with close corners, they would normally wear a bump cap. A bump cap is lightweight and is not as big as the hard hats and do not protect your head from heavy things that might fall on it. Overall, personal protective equipment is very important in workplaces all over the world. Knowing what type of protection to use in certain areas of work and how to use it is also very important. Personal protective equipment is a major part of safety for employees and helps them avoid hazards as well  as injuries. There are many forms of personal protective equipment that helps to protect a worker’s body from hazards that might occur in a workplace. The employer is responsible for determining which type of personal protective equipment their employees will wear for their job. OSHA gives a list of personal protective equipment required for each job, listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, therefore employees should know exactly what type of protection to use, and how it will protect them from the dangerous hazards that might occur. Knowing the importance of personal protective equipment in a job will result in avoiding injuries and hazards and may save lives for those wh o use it and use it properly.