Metal Construction News, January 2021

SAFETY COLUMN Safety Isnt Limitless A Critical Look at PPE By Joseph Maldonado owner RelentlessSafety com The term PPE personal protective equipment has had more than its 15 minutes of fame in 2020 Safety professionals in every industry now sleep better knowing they have fi nally been validated partly anyway for all of those sleepy morning safety briefi ngs incentivized by day old donuts Even so theres still a lot of progress to be made in the realm of understanding the place of PPE when it comes to risk For one thing there are likely very few people who realize that PPE isnt designed to keep you from getting hurt Think about that critically for a moment Do safety glasses prevent particles from entering the eye Does fi re retardant FR clothing prevent the wearer from being burned The answer to both of those questions is no of course The point is that PPE is designed to minimize consequences Its also as any good safety person will tell you the last line of defense Thats a topic worth emphasizing when training any new group of employees especially those who dont have a ton of experience To better explain lets generalize a little You take a job at an industrial site When you show up on your fi rst day youre handed a hard hat safety glasses safety toed shoes gloves and some hearing protection Youre told to wear them every time youre in the work area Its part of the uniform First off providing ppe is commendable Believe it or not there are plenty of companies that would rather pinch pennies than invest in the safety of their employees Even in todays uberlegal risk adverse culture there are more organizations than one might imagine who require their people to fend for themselves and buy their own protective gear But thats a topic for another article Most companies though do a fair job at providing what their employees need The thing almost no one does is teach about limitations As previously mentioned PPE is the last line of defense Safety professionals know that but we often assume others do as well Unfortunately not everyone has that prerequisite knowledge Simply handing someone a helmet and goggles might insinuate that protection is guaranteed Never assume the simple things are understood Up to this point everything in this article begs the question If PPE is last whats fi rst To answer that lets explore a really dumb and made up example You work for a small fl ooring contractor and score a job refl ooring two fl oors of a high rise simultaneously The boss comes to you and says he wants to be able to communicate with the crews on both fl oors so he wants you to cut a large hole in the higher fl oor allowing him to communicate easily Since the large hole will create a dangerous fall hazard you approach the request using the Hierarchy of Controls see graphic asking the boss the following You Could we just eliminate the hole and use radios Boss No walls are too thick Radios arent reliable You Could we substitute the big hole with a little one Silently you also imagine using tin cans and a string to accommodate the ridiculous request Boss No I want to see the work being done below You Could we put up guard rails around the hole Boss No its a two day job that would cost too much You Why dont we put up a big sign that says DANGER DONT FALL IN THE BIG HOLE Boss That wouldnt stop someone from falling in the hole You Youre right I guess the only thing left is to require everyone who enters the upper fl oor to wear a fall protection harness That will require new equipment training a rescue plan and engineered anchorages to tie off to Boss after a long pause Fine just use radios If nothing else that dumb example should give you an idea of all the thought that should go into using PPE Consider PPE from this perspective Its required because theres a risk that cant be removed from the work environment When your people know that theyre much more likely to use it correctly and consistently Theyll also understand that the hazard is still very real and very dangerous Jason Maldonado has worked as a safety and health professional for 17 years in a variety of industries He is the owner and lead contributor of RelentlessSafety com as well as an accomplished author and speaker His fi rst book A Practical Guide to the Safety Profession The Relentless Pursuit is available now January 2021 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 9 www metalconstruct ionnews com