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Depending on the job
and its hazards, your workers can get so loaded down with personal
protective equipment (PPE) that they feel like deep sea divers or
astronauts on a NASA mission. Wearing safety glasses, a face shield,
a hardhat, earplugs, earmuffs, gloves, steel-toed boots, and a safety
vest can be a pain in the royal derriere. Although PPE can save
a company thousands or even millions of dollars, it is to be used
only as necessary. The more PPE, the more uncomfortable the employee
is and, ironically, the more the level of safety tends to go down.
"For a safety professional,
it's pretty much the choice of last resort to put the PPE on the
men," says Vic Gremillion, corporate safety director for Boh Brothers
Construction in New Orleans, LA. "If you load a guy down with too
much PPE, it's difficult for him to work. Generally it's uncomfortable,
it's hot, and it's restrictive of a person's movement."
Progressive firms are
always on the lookout for more efficient PPE and ways to reduce
the need for it. A safety problem can be solved with engineering
methods (i.e., minor alterations to equipment), by administrative
means (e.g., not allowing the employee to be exposed to high levels
of sound for extended periods of time), or by precluding the need
for additional PPE with business decisions, such as picking up quieter
heavy equipment.
Despite a general disdain
for PPE, Gremillion says it is a wise investment. "We feel that
for every dollar we spend on PPE, we save $7 in medical, insurance,
and related costs. It's saving us a lot of money. It's expensive
to send employees to the doctor. You lose time during which your
valuable employee could have been producing for you. Someone else,
generally a foreman or a supervisor, is going with him - so you've
got two employees who make on average $23 an hour, and you're sending
them away for four hours. Then you've got medical costs incurred
with that."
Fall-Protection Equipment
A dramatic example of
PPE saving a life occurred when a Boh Brothers employee fell off
a girder beam during construction of a bridge. A Type-3 fall-protection
harness prevented the man from landing on the freeway and being
run over.
The almost-victim returned
to Earth with the assistance of a front-end loader. "He was able
to unhook his lanyard and safely self-rescue into the bucket," says
Gremillion. "So he's a firm believer in tying off every time and
making sure his harness looks good every morning. He puts it on
nice and snug."
The employee suffered
no aches or pains. He simply went to the bathroom and promptly went
back to work. "He is certainly a believer" in PPE.
Gremillion says his company
utilizes several kinds of Type-3 harnesses from a variety of manufacturers.
"Type 3,[means] it has two shoulder straps, a buckle or a fastening
at the chest, and two straps that go around each leg. The D-ring
where the lanyard is attached is on a centerline with your spine,
and because your legs are strapped in, there is less chance to hurt
your back if you have to fall on one. It's a safer belt. Old-fashioned
waist belts are no longer applicable to construction work.
"When you fall off a
bridge structure, you may swing and smack the side of the bridge
or smack a column. The bungee-cord fastenings along the D-ring in
the back are designed to prevent the swinging action."
Some of the other kinds
of harnesses the company uses have D-rings that are attached at
the top of the shoulders. "If we are working in a confined place
- a sewer or a manhole or something like that - it's much easier
to pull the man out by using the D-rings that are on the shoulders
for rescue work. When the man can't help himself, it's much easier
to pick him up using the D-rings that are attached to his shoulders."
Gremillion, who has been a safety director for 27 years, says Boh
Brothers has used harnesses from Klein, Dennington, Rose Safety
Belts, and DBI Silo Safety Systems.
Some harnesses with D-rings
on each side of the waist are used by personnel who have to work
off the ground on walls. "It's like a shortened lanyard," Gremillion
says. "It's a piece of chain that attaches to each D-ring on the
side. It's got a big hook in the middle, so when they climb up the
wall, they attach to the wall, and then they lean back and it serves
as a positioning belt, as well as fall protection."
Another piece of fall-prevention
equipment is a wrist harness. "They buckle a strap around each wrist.
Those are specifically used for retrieving an employee from an underground
vault or pit or some sort of chemical-plant, oil-refinerytype tank
rescue. When you pull the guy out of the tank or the pit or the
sump, his head is following his arms that are now elevated above
his head. They pull him out with wrist cuffs."
Vests
Eleven
years ago, an automobile at a Boh Brothers job site killed an employee.
Somehow the man found himself on the wrong side of a concrete barrier
rail, pinned between the road and the barrier. In response to the
accident, the company required an internal traffic-control plan
within each construction site and decided that every employee must
wear an orange vest on every job, night and day.
They currently wear Type-2
vests, which have one stripe at the bottom that circles the vest
and two stripes going up and down, one on either side of the chest
that also follows through to the back.
Type-3 vests, which are
not yet mandatory, provide more square inches of retroreflective
material. They have two stripes down the front from the top to the
bottom, one horizontal stripe at the bottom, and two vertical stripes,
one on either side of the chest. "We've looked at them, and we are
toying with the idea of using them for night work because of the
visibility," says Gremillion.
"A typical vendor will
usually offer several styles that will meet the square-inch requirement
[of retroreflective material]," says Phil Harris, safety manager
for James Cape & Sons Company in Racine, WI. "The styles vary
based on whether the end user wants to have pockets, a zipper, or
Velcro to hold the vest together, or if they want more of an open
weave that will breathe better. We buy several different styles,
depending on the employee and what his or her job is."
In order to stay cool,
Harris recommends that workers wear an undershirt beneath the vest.
"If it gets warm out, their body perspires, and that white cotton
shirt gets wet. As the wind blows, once it hits that wet material
it will cool a body down much quicker. The trick is trying to convince
employees of that."
Skin cancer is an issue
as well. "We've been promulgating for years that people should be
using sunscreen," says Harris. "But traditionally, I think the goal
for a lot of construction workers is to see how dark of a tan they
can get. If they wear a vest, obviously there is some UV protection
with that vest. A lot of the better vest garments have a UV protective
factor in them, just so the vest will last longer. The sun doesn't
bleach them out so fast, and [the UV factor] will help protect the
employee's skin from sun exposure."
Eye and Head Protection
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One of the more curious
aspects of a safety director's job is the fact that he or she actually
has to convince people to wear basic protective equipment, such
as eye and head protection. "I coach and cajole and teach and train
and encourage," says Tom Watters, safety director for Granite Construction's
Nevada Operations. "Everybody's got a different form of motivation.
You've got to find that and get them to buy into the program. I
think we're different from a lot of companies. We don't push our
safety program from a regulatory-compliance standpoint. We address
it from a standpoint of 'We want you to do this because we don't
want you to get hurt. It's not about complying with rules. It's
about protecting yourself so you can go home to your family at the
end of the day.' That's job Number 1."
Hardhats
Watters
says one of the more frequent complaints he hears from heavy-equipment
operators is "Why do I have to wear a hardhat when I'm in a piece
of equipment?" He explains, "That way we're sure they're protected
when they get out of the equipment and when they're walking across
the job site to their car."
That hardhat rule likely
saved the life of a Granite employee who was on foot leaving a job
site that had been shut down due to high winds. The wind picked
up a piece of plywood that hit his arm so hard it broke it. The
board also hit him on the side of the head, causing a large lump.
"We're pretty sure that saved us a fatality."
Gary Beemer, safety director
and executive vice president for Beemer Construction in Blue Springs,
MO, says his company uses the Fibre/Metals brand of hardhat. "It's
the best thing I could find on the market. It's a Type 1, Class
E. Having worked out in the field before, the over-the-counter type
of hardhats I've seen easily slip off as soon as you bend over.
What I like about the Fibre/Metals hardhat is that it has an eight-way
suspension. It has a replaceable sweatband, and it's not only comfortable,
it stays on no matter what position you're in."
He says the Fibre/Metals
hardhat exceeds OSHA requirements. "It was just my personal choice
having worked with the junk that was out on the market, and to be
a quality employer, to keep good people, I need to do what is right."
According to Ron Demulling,
safety director for James Peterson Sons Inc. in Medford, WI, his
company provides its employees with a wide variety of hardhat choices,
including hats that provide protection from impact and electric
shock. "There are lots of hardhats out there for the workers. We
have a standard hardhat with a front brim. It's a construction-style
hardhat with what they call 'standard-suspension webbing,' and then
we also give them the option of a wide-brimmed hardhat, which is
for people who work in the sun, to protect their ears from the ultraviolet
rays.
"There's a ratchet-type
suspension that's really popular because you turn a knob on the
back of the hardhat and it will ratchet it tighter or looser. That
usually holds pretty well, and then there's the manual adjustment
that just slides back and forth. The ratchet-suspension type is
really the better of the two. It seems to hold better." Among the
brand names Demulling mentions are Willson, MSA, and Bullard.
Safety Glasses
Due
to an incident where an employee almost lost an eye, Beemer Construction
now requires double protection for equipment operators utilizing
hoe-ring or hoe-ram attachments. Not only do they keep the front
glass window down, but they also have to wear safety glasses. "I
had a case where a rock ricocheted up into the operating cab," Beemer
says. "So I had to think of a quick way to abate this kind of hazard.
Put the front glass window in the down position because that's a
safety glass, and wear your eye protection for backup."
In the never-ending campaign
to get their workers to wear safety glasses, several companies have
endeavored to find the most stylish models. "We've got to have what
looks good," says Nona Pence, safety director for Damon Purcell
Construction Company in Liberty, MO.
Pence says her company
offers a program where it helps the employee purchase prescription
safety glasses.
She notes that there
is a wide variety of choices in eye protection. "The guys seem to
like the Uvex Patriots really well. They are just a wraparound glass.
I recently purchased some that are made by AOSafety, called Maxim.
The guys who have tried them have really liked them because they
are vented, so they don't fog. And they also like them because they
have a rubber material for the nose bridge that pivots, and it adjusts
and is more comfortable. It doesn't slide off the nose when you
sweat. It's soft, so it conforms to your nose. It's not rigid on
the nose."
"A lot of new eye protection
is coming out that is not only more comfortable, but in order to
get guys to wear it, it has to be stylish," says Beemer. "You have
guys like Smith and Wesson putting out safety glasses that really
look nice. You want to wear these even off work because they come
with a gray lens and look like regular sunglasses, but they're actually
ANSI-approved safety glasses."
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According to Beemer,
recent industry improvements include more safety glasses made with
polycarbonate lenses that provide UV protection. "They are also
coming up with some more new composite kind of stuff out there to
make them more break-resistant."
One of the smartest improvements
in recent years for PPE was allowing for a variety of styles for
eyewear, remarks Gremillion. "Allowing the safety-equipment manufacturers
some flexibility and style has helped create a better reception
for the end user. My young employees who are 18 and 19 don't want
to wear big fat glasses that [make them] look like Buddy Holly.
They want to wear the cool-looking glasses. Now that they've relaxed
some of the ANSI standards, [manufacturers] are able to get creative
on styles."
Face Shields
Demulling
says James Peterson Sons requires safety face shields to be worn
during all grinding and chipping work. The company uses only Willson-brand
face shields. "It has an adjustable headband, and it's just the
one [the employees] chose. It meets the ANSI standards. It provides
us with the protection we are looking for. It covers up the neck
and goes to the side almost as far as the ears. We need them because
it's always possible for something to get in from a backward angle."
Are all face shields
created equal? "No, there are different levels of protection," he
says. "Most of them have to meet the ANSI standard regarding impact
so that materials don't penetrate them. But there are different
levels of protection regarding how far it protrudes down to protect
the neck area, and then there are adjustable ones that mount on
a hardhat, and they will actually tip up out of the way so you can
work with them up in the air and when you need them, tip them down.
A lot of welders' helmets nowadays have a clear lens in them so
you can use it as a face shield. Most face shields today are made
out of polycarbonate, just like safety glasses. They withstand different
kinds of impact."
Earplugs and Earmuffs
According
to Watters, the rule of thumb for deciding whether there is a need
for hearing protection is if you have to shout to be heard by the
person next to you. "We have certain areas in some of our plants
that are designated not only 'hearing-protection required' but that
have a high enough level of noise that we require double hearing
protection." In other words, with anything louder than 100 dB, you
should be wearing earplugs and earmuffs.
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Demulling says the Peterson
firm takes ear protection past the basics of earplugs and earmuffs.
It has a hearing-conservation program, which includes an annual
required hearing test and purchase of the quietest equipment on
the market.
Not only are the quieter
machines good for public relations, but they also provide a more
alert employee and a safer work environment. "The ear protection
only has to attenuate the noise down to a tolerable level. The employee
must still be able to hear alarms, talk to an employee with his
ear protection in, and hear and understand you.
"Our employees like the
E.A.R.-brand earplug, and we offer them a Willson earmuff, as well
as a 3M," Dermulling continues. "They are soft, they are pliable,
they are easy to install, and they are of course disposable. There
are other brands out there, but that is the brand that everybody
[at the firm] seems to like best."
Demulling says some earmuffs
can be worn on a hardhat. "There are different kinds. The muffs
have excellent noise attenuation in that they will bring the decibels
down to a tolerable level. Sometimes muffs are easier to wear than
earplugs. Sometimes people get irritated in their ear canal. It
can become irritated by wearing earplugs, and mostly that comes
from having dirty plugs."
OSHA standards state
that some sort of action must be provided on a job that reaches
85 dB (average more than eight hours), either a reduction in the
noise itself through engineering controls or ear-protection measures.
In the case of a job
with an 85-dB level, Demulling says some standard earplugs can reduce
the level dramatically. "It depends on the brand, and it depends
on how you put them in. If you wear them properly, the attenuation
can be as much as 15 to 25 decibels." A good set of earmuffs can
reduce noise as much as plugs can, he says. If the employee were
to use both, he could soften the impact by another 5 dB.
"The important thing
about wearing ear protection is good personal hygiene," says Demulling,
who admits he has suffered hearing loss due to failing to wear hearing
protection during his younger years. "Keep the equipment clean,
as well as know how to wear it properly. Earplugs need to be inserted
in a certain way. You reach behind your head with your opposite
hand. If you are putting the earplugs in your left ear, you take
your right hand, go behind your head, and pull your ear canal open
to slide them in, and then they actually will swell up. You crush
them down, and they will actually swell back. After they swell back,
you should definitely hear a difference, then you know you are wearing
them properly."
With earmuffs, to wear
them properly you shouldn't allow large amounts of hair to interfere
with the sealing surface around the ear, he says. Wearing glasses
can also present a problem. "There is no way to adjust it so the
glasses don't interfere, unless you have glasses where the temple
bar does not extend under the muff."
Demulling says the highest
noise levels on a construction site approach 125 to 130 dB. "When
you get up to 120 decibels, that is very damaging to the ears, almost
immediately. When you are exposed to high decibels of noise - like
130 to 140 - that actually causes pain. There is also a chance of
permanent hearing loss." Another malady includes constant ringing
in the ear. "It can be a serious problem. It can drive you crazy.
It can affect your psychological health as well. It can trigger
migraines."
Beemer says he has ordered
some E.A.R. soft plugs that allegedly provide a 33-dB noise reduction,
which would be the highest on the market. "I am really anxious to
get those. I have rock drillers out there where their work environment
is extremely loud and they always wear ear protection. I'm anxious
for my blasters to try them out to not only see if they're comfortable
but to see if it helps in the noise reduction as well."
Gloves
Another key PPE component
is gloves. "Typically we use a lot of leather gloves, something
that's got a canvas back on it so the back of your hand can breathe
a little bit," says Beemer. "And some of the specialty gloves we
use are vibration-dampening gloves that have a gel foam in the palm
of the glove, so if you're working with a particular tool that has
a vibration factor it will dampen the vibration out. [Valeo equipment,
for example,] is designed to minimize the effects of carpal tunnel."
When shopping for gloves,
it's important to make sure the thumb part of the glove points down
to the ground rather than sticks out the side, he says. "With the
glove not on your hand, place it palm down. The thumb part of the
glove should fold down underneath the fingers and point down. That's
going to be a more comfortable glove to wear than one where, when
you pick it up, the thumb is sticking out of the side of the hand
and not folding down. If it sticks out of the side of the hand,
it wasn't sewn to ergonomically fit a hand." Consequences could
be blisters or sore hands.
He says it is important
to have a leather glove that allows for "breathing" because the
hand can become wet and uncomfortable, and bacteria can grow inside
the glove, which can breed a foul smell or produce an infection
should the hand inside have a nick. Demulling says his personnel
use a wide variety of gloves, depending on the hazards.
"We have guys who work
around asphalt plants - both hot-oil-tanker drivers and the oilers
themselves - who actually handle the material at the plant. They
wear special - we call them hot-oil - rubber gloves that are insulated
to protect them from the high temperatures of the oil products they
are handling. We also buy regular rubber gloves for the guys working
in the field and vibration gloves for the jackhammers and tampers.
We probably have eight or 10 different kinds of gloves for different
people doing different things."
Gremillion says Boh Brothers
utilizes several kinds of gloves:
- Cotton jersey gloves
are used for such general labors as pouring concrete and handling
wood.
- Gauntlet gloves are
used to protect wrists and forearms. The company asks its chainsaw
operators and welders to wear them.
- Gauntlet neoprene
gloves are chemical-resistant. They are used by sewer workers.
- Nitrile rubber gloves
are highly resistant to chemicals.
- Linesmen's gloves
combine a rubber glove on the inside with a heavy-duty leather
glove on the outside. Employees who do utility work, such as excavating
buried high-voltage wires, use these for protection against electric
shock. It is important that there aren't any holes in the rubber,
or the worker could literally fry. The gloves are tested daily
for pinhole leaks. Once every six months a third party tests them.
- Antivibration gloves
are used for jackhammer and chipping operations. "We use gloves
that have the fingers cut off and have the material sorbothane,
an antivibration rubbery gel in the palm of the glove and on the
inside of the thumb. That helps prevent repetitive motion and
vibratory problems, such as stinging and numbness and tingling
of the hands."
Gremillion says Boh Brothers
purchases "disposable" Asian-made gloves that are cheaper than American-made
ones but also tend not to last as long. "The Chinese have invaded
the glove market. When you go to the National Safety Congress and
walk through all of the exhibitor booths, there are probably 100
booths that have something to do with gloves - the cut-and-sew market
is consumed by the Asians." The gloves are extremely cheap. At $5.40
a dozen, they are less than $0.50 apiece.
Boots
When it comes to footwear
at Boh Brothers, tennis shoes and sandals are forbidden. All boots
must extend above the ankle. He says a good pair has a defined heel
(it is not flat across the bottom), which allows for better traction.
For the extra protection provided by hard-toed footwear, Gremillion
says the carbon-fiber boot is lighter and less of a conductor of
electricity. The company also buys Kevlar boots for resistance to
cuts and boots made of nitrile rubber for chemically sensitive work.
Boh Brothers provides specialized footwear to its employees or will
reimburse an employee for his or her purchase.
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Beemer says his firm
purchases steel-toed rubber boots from a company called Hy-Test.
He suggests staying away from imports, especially from China. "Whenever
I can, I try to find PPE that's manufactured here in the United
States. You're going to pay a few bucks more, but it's going to
last and provide better protection for the employee."
"An employee should be
prepared to spend close to $100 for a good pair of work boots,"
says Harris, "especially if he's going to be in them all day. They
should be waterproof. In some cases, they may have to have toe protection
in them. It doesn't necessarily have to be steel. They make some
good, carbon-fiber toecaps. The downside with steel-toed boots is
in the wintertime when those steel toes get cold. It makes everything
else on the end of your foot pretty cold."
When it comes to keeping
your employees safe - and reducing a firm's exposure to potential
litigation - keep a vigilant eye out for new products, says Beemer.
"It's important to constantly watch for what's coming out, what's
changing, what's new. In these days and times, things like gas monitors
and other products are getting smaller and cheaper. There is some
great new stuff coming out."
Writer Jack Beardwood
has more than 20 years of professional experience working with newspapers
and magazines.
GEC
- March/April 2004
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