Types of Work Safety Equipment

Resource Description

Types of Work Safety Equipment

Work safety equipment relates to the type of personal protective equipment (PPE). This equipment includes clothes that an employee should use to protect themselves from injuries or illnesses that may be caused by workplace hazards and damages.

The OSHA* explains that employees are responsible for wearing any required and necessary PPE according to the OSHA standards. These standards include a performance of a hazard assessment, determining and providing proper PPE, training workers in the use of the protective equipment, and replacing any damages to equipment as required.

OSHA* (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - is an administration that provides a safe and healthful working environment for employees by requiring and enforcing safety working conditions standards.

What is Work Safety Equipment

Work Safety Equipment protects from any injuries to the employee. Most safety equipment comes in the form of PPE. Nevertheless, some equipment has a safer design at the first sight, but not making it likely to protect from hazards.

Several different parts of the equipment are necessary for a single employee according to the job and working responsibilities he/she does.

Head protection equipment helps to save you from falling or flying objects or overhead items. Eye protection is necessary to keep your eyes from dust or particles of metal shavings, acids or chemical solutions, and welding light. Hearing, hand, foot and many other types of protective equipment may prevent you from damage and injuries in the working place.

Types Of Work Safety Equipment

Types Of Work Safety Equipment

Below you may see a list of essential Work Safety Equipment that might be required within a manufacturing organization.

Hard Hats and Helmets

Hard hats are used for protecting industrial workers from head injuries that may be caused by falling or flying objects or items. Protective hard hats should be shock-, water- and penetration-resistant as well as slow-burning.

OSHA standards also require employers to provide their workers to wear and protect their hair from being caught in machinery.

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Safety Shoes, Foot Guards, and Leggings

Safety shoes, foot guards, and leggings allow you to protect employees from a series of hazards and injuries in a workplace such as falling, rolling, or injuries due to sharp objects and items, wet and slippery surfaces, etc.

This Work Safety Equipment includes:

Protective leggings are generally made of leather or aluminized rayon. These leggings are offered with safety snaps to protect the employee’s legs and foot and for easy removal.

Metatarsal guards are tied up to the outside part of the shoes to prevent the worker from the instep. Toe guards are generally produced of steel, aluminum, or plastic and are worn over the toes to prevent the impact. Shin guards are used for protecting the lower legs and feet.

Safety shoes are a specific series of shoes (e.g., electrically conductive shoes) that protect the employee from static electricity build-up.

Earplugs and Earmuffs

Earplugs and Earmuffs are produced to prevent employees from extreme noise that may cause unrecoverable hearing injuries, damage, and increased stress.

In a working environment where workers are constantly referred to high noise levels should use specially molded earplugs. The higher and more continuous the noise is, the less time the worker should work without proper hearing protection.

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Harness & Lanyards

The harness is equipment that provides two aspects: interference of the fall forces safely on the employee’s body in the reason of a fall and offering free movements that provide the employee to do the work effortlessly.

The safety lanyard is an element that is attached to the D-ring of the employee’s safety harness that helps to protect the worker from falling.

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Gloves, Finger Guards, and Arm Coverings

Gloves allow preventing the worker from the skin injuries and damages that are provoked by cuts, chemical and thermal burns, and punctures.

Relying on the employee’s working conditions and the risk of hazards and injuries, hand protections may offer a variety of thermal protection and respond to the range of grip requirements. Gloves may be produced of leather, canvas, fabric, and different chemical- and liquid-resistant materials.

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Eye Protection

Eye protection equipment is a significant item in specific working conditions to prevent the worker’s eyes from particles, molten metals, chemical liquids and gasses, hor solutions, and harmful types of radiation. Such Work Safety Equipment has to be worn closely and conveniently to the worker’s face, be clean, and not disturb vision or movement.

Eye protection equipment consists of spectacles, welding shields, and safety goggles.

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Surgical Face Mask and Respirators

Surgical face masks are often related to face masks. Surgical masks are loose-fitting, disposable equipment that allows covering the employee’s mouth and nose to make a barrier between them and the working environment, if it is required.

This Work Safety Equipment offers protection from the worker from wide particle droplets and splatters that may include germs as well as prevents respiratory secretions the employee passes on to others.

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Respirators are the long-term used equipment in the industry to prevent workers from breathing air that is infected or polluted with harmful gasses, spays, or dust. These Work Safety Equipment must be worn close to the face and cover the nose and mouth as tight as possible to be effective.

Filtering respirators are the most common equipment that is used and required by the OSHA. More recently, these respirators were critical to use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Face Shields

Face shields include a visor, plastic or metal frame, and a suspension system that fits the shield to the employee’s head. Offering full face protection, this Work Safety equipment is generally worn on top of the masks or goggles to protect the worker from the inhalation of toxic liquids or substances.

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Why Is Work Safety Equipment Important?

Whether you work in a chemical, building, or other quite dangerous industry for your health, you should follow the safety rules and wear Work Safety Equipment.

There are several reasons why Work Safety Equipment is so significant to wear.

The major reason to use Work Safety Equipment is to protect your health. Safety equipment helps you to protect yourself from injuries and to minimize the physical effect if the accident happens. The more proper the safety equipment, the less the risk of getting injured is.

The proper Work Safety Equipment also offers to do your work better and faster, thus improving your productivity. Especially if you work with high-risk tasks and activities, the proper-chosen safety equipment will help you to increase the productivity and the quality of the work.

Safe workers in well-protected working conditions are happier workers. No one wants to work in dangerous working conditions. By providing proper Work Safety Equipment, workers won’t worry about their health. That is why proper Work Safety Equipment is a significant rule in the working industry.