The use of personal protective equipment is mandatory in many professions. The days of opting out of its use are long gone. Insurance company premiums guide employers in enforcing their use as an important layer of damage prevention. Safe Work Australia is a massive department that creates and enforces safe and healthy workplaces.
Your government, insurance companies, and employers believe in the protection equipment. What do you use to protect yourself at work? I have worked in some dangerous jobs and environments during military service. No one forgets their helmet. If you care about your life and limbs, you will protect them.
I worked in aviation building jet engines and hand-crafted a few sailing yachts in my life. The dangerous chemicals and sensitive equipment meant we had to wear nitrile gloves, eye protection, and respirators if necessary. Sometimes the equipment made the work more difficult due to freedom of movement in confined spaces.
Being around the loud noises of warfare and jet engines for months can take a toll on your hearing and mental stability. Implementing multiple flange earplugs and adding defenders over my ears meant I could perform duties longer and at a better capacity without lasing issues.
I can appreciate my dentist wearing gloves and a mask while working on me. How about you? Do you like food service staff to wear gloves? Some dental work requires that we wear protective goggles as well. When was the last time someone in a hospital touched you without a glove?
I owe a lot to a particular set of steel-toes boots. Once, while in a warehouse assembling deployment skids for overseas, I nearly lost a foot. A forklift was driving past me with a load. The driver didn’t check his clearance, and the load struck a pallet near my feet. The weight of the load and forklift collapsed the pallet like an accordion and shoved both of my feet under a piece of heavy equipment, pinning me to the floor. I was in a lot of pain. When they pried me loose and gently cut my boots off, we found two intact feet, although they felt destroyed.
Do not put yourself or others at risk with your lack of safety compliance. I fully understand that some PPE is uncomfortable. Chemical warfare gear is heavy, cumbersome, and hot like you wouldn’t believe. I can tell you that we all wore it when there was even a chance of chemical or biological agents being used.
If your hands sweat in nitrile gloves, get over it. If the strap on your eye protection hurts, loosen it. If that respirator and full-body suit is annoying, wear it anyway. Your use of PPE is for you and your family, not insurance, your company, or your government.
Be sure to use it correctly and help those around you. Advise your management when you find an area or task that doesn’t require PPE but should. Be smart, and work safe.
