Why is PPE important?

Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, plays an important role in making sure that workers are safe. It creates a barrier between workers and workplace hazards that can cause harm to them while performing their jobs. In this article, we'll discuss why is PPE important and how it can prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

What is a PPE?

PPE is a vital component of workplace safety and health as it helps minimize the risk of injury, illness, or even fatalities. They’re designed to protect workers from different hazards in the workplace, such as chemical splashes, falling objects, or electrical shocks. PPE includes items such as gloves, hard hats, safety glasses, respirators, and more.

To safeguard workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established standards for different industries. OSHA mandates that numerous types of PPE must adhere to or be comparable to the standards set by the American National Standards Institute.

Benefits of wearing PPE in the workplace

The benefits of wearing PPE at work cannot be overstated and definitely outweigh the cons of not wearing it. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of using personal protective equipment below, which also answers why PPE is important at work:

• It protects workers from potential hazards, such as injuries, illnesses, or exposure to harmful substances. It saves lives and helps avoid fatalities.
• It acts as a barrier, reducing the risk of accidents and the severity of injuries, as well as minimizing the impact of workplace dangers.
• It promotes safety in the workplace and compliance with regulations and legalities, creating a secure environment for workers. This makes employees feel secure and can boost productivity, morale, and overall well-being.
• It lowers healthcare costs by preventing work-related injuries and illnesses, leading to improved long-term health outcomes for individuals.

Types of PPE and their uses

PPE comes in different types and can be categorized based on the intention to protect certain body regions. This also depends on the type of hazard one might encounter on the job. It's crucial to have high-quality equipment and the correct one for their needs. To know more, check out these five personal protective equipment types and their uses:

• Head protection: safety helmets, caps, hoods, and hard hats that protect the head are all examples of PPE designed to protect the head. These protect from falling objects, impacts, or electrical hazards and are examples of head protection. They’re frequently employed in the mining, manufacturing, and construction sectors.
• Eye and face protection: Welding shields, face shields, safety glasses or goggles, which protect the eyes and face from chemical spills, flying debris, or dangerous substances, are examples of eye protection. These are mostly used in industrial settings, medical facilities, and laboratories.
• Respiratory protection: Masks and respirators are examples of respiratory protection equipment that filter the air and shield workers from breathing in dangerous compounds or airborne particles. In areas where there is dust, smog, or infectious agents, they’re highly essential.
• Hearing protection: Earmuffs and earplugs are examples of hearing protection PPE that can help limit noise exposure and prevent hearing loss. They’re frequently employed in noisy environments like manufacturing plants and construction sites.
• Body protection: Wearing coveralls, aprons, or vests to shield the torso from extreme temperatures, hot splashes, spills, impact from tools, or other possible hazards is referred to as body protection. You can see these being used in construction, medical facilities, chemical companies, and laboratories.

How to educate employees about PPE

Train employees in the proper use of PPE

Even the most advanced PPE won’t be effective if workers aren’t knowledgeable about how to use it correctly. As mandated by OSHA, it’s the employer's responsibility to train each employee who will be using PPE. Training should include why is PPE important and instruction on how to properly wear, store, and maintain PPE. Workers should also inform their direct reports if any PPE needs to be repaired or replaced.

Encourage a culture of safety

To make the workplace a safe and secure environment for everyone, it’s important to create and maintain a culture of safety. This means that all employees should be aware of the potential risks and dangers associated with their job, as well as the importance of following safety protocols.

This safety talk idea is meant to keep them at ease, knowing they have all the info they need to do their jobs safely. Encouraging a culture of safety also involves fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting safety issues or concerns.

Conduct a risk assessment/hazard analysis

Conducting a hazard analysis is a crucial first step in protecting your workers. Through this evaluation, you’ll be able to find any health and safety risks in the workplace, which can be physical or health-related. You can then determine if additional PPE is needed to mitigate risks and identify specific hazards that require protection through PPE.

Using SC Training for your PPE training

SC Training is an all-in-one learning solution that’s the perfect companion for your PPE training needs. It has an editable course library with the top PPE courses available, like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Construction and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Manufacturing. These can be customized to fit your specific needs and branding requirements.

Also, creating beautiful and engaging course content is no longer limited to tech wizards. With SC Training's Creator tool, anyone can build amazing courses without needing any coding skills. So whether you're a seasoned instructional designer or a newbie, you can create stunning content that will keep your learners engaged and eager to learn.

But if you’re not sure how to begin, you can say goodbye to starting courses from scratch and hello to effortless course creation with SC Training's Create with AI. Just pop in your lesson ideas, which can be as simple as entering a topic, keyword, summary, or link, and watch as the tool gives you a fully packaged microlearning program.