One of the few industries to benefit from the COVID-19 Pandemic’s unprecedented demands was the Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”) manufacturing business. According to Fortune Business Insights, the PPE market experienced a jaw-dropping growth of 152.8% in a single year (2019-2020). Growth, at a much more reasonable single-digit rate, is forecast to continue for the PPE industry into the next decade even as pandemic demand decreases. Read, “Personal Protective Equipment Market Analysis Report,” published by Fortune Business Insights in April 2021.
Public awareness of PPE certainly rose with the need for face masks as governmental authorities, school districts, and business proprietors all required mask use in protecting against exposure and spreading of the Coronavirus. For many, wearing a mask to protect against COVID may have been their first exposure to using individual protective equipment on a daily basis.
Safety awareness is a good thing. However, safety agencies and those advocating for the rights of industrial accident victims and their families are well aware of the tremendous range and variety of PPE needed in various work areas and job sites to keep workers safe from harm on the job. Providing PPE can make the difference between life and death in an industrial accident.
Accordingly, it is vital that workers in Indiana and Illinois know the particular safety equipment needed for their actual work site, alongside the specific risks they are facing as they go about their daily routines.
Employers’ Duty of Care Includes Providing PPE: Hazard Assessment
Workers should be instructed about the specific PPE that is needed for a specific job in a particular industry. Construction workers on a highway bridge in Indianapolis, for instance, will need very different PPE from those who are earning a living on the docks at the Port of Chicago or in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana.
Likewise, employees and their families ought to be aware of the legal duties placed upon employers regarding Personal Protective Equipment. Companies should provide the proper PPE to workers as part of their general legal duty of care and safety.
The employers’ duties do not end there. There is also a legal duty to keep abreast of advances in PPE safety technology for that industry and its job requirements. If new PPE is developed that provides superior protection, the company needs to know about it. There is also the legal duty to monitor all PPE used by workers for maintenance, repair, or replacement.
As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) explains:
Hazards exist in every workplace in many different forms: sharp edges, falling objects, flying sparks, chemicals, noise and a myriad of other potentially dangerous situations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers protect their employees from workplace hazards that can cause injury.
Controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to protect employees. Depending on the hazard or workplace conditions, OSHA recommends the use of engineering or work practice controls to manage or eliminate hazards to the greatest extent possible. For example, building a barrier between the hazard and the employees is an engineering control; changing the way in which employees perform their work is a work practice control.
When engineering, work practice and administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees and ensure its use. Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as ‘PPE’, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards.
Employers should carefully inspect each worksite within the company’s possession or control to find any potential dangers facing workers. These hazards will vary depending upon the industry and the job site itself, of course. Different types of PPE are needed in different jobs, at different times.
Types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Overall, there are particular categories that define PPE as it is available to workers in Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the country. The most common types of industrial personal protective equipment include:
1. Head Protection: Hardhats, Helmets, Safety Hats
Workers who face the hazard of being struck in the head while on the job will need head protection. The head covering should be sufficient to take the shock of a sudden blow in order to protect the worker from a severe or fatal traumatic brain injury. In some situations, the worker should be provided with head protection that also keeps the wearer safe from electric shock, should there be a potential exposure to electricity or live wires while on task.
Head protection is classified by a set of standards created by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Workers can confirm the type of head protection they have been given as PPE by looking at the information provided inside the shell.
2. Foot and Leg Protection: Boots, Leggings, Special Soles
Workers in some industrial environments may face the dangers of fractures or amputation aside from fatal bodily injuries that demand personal protective equipment for their legs and feet. Protective footwear, such as steel-toed boots, may be needed. Leggings may be required.
For those working near fire or heat, their footwear will require heat-resistant soles to protect against burns. Those working on wet or slippery surfaces will need soles with footguards and traction.
Worker PPE footwear is also classified by standards defined by the ANSI. Employers have a duty to understand the ANSI footwear standards and how they apply to worksites within the employer’s jurisdiction.
3. Arm and Hand Protection: Gloves, Mittens, Insulated Sleeves, Pads
Workers can risk fatal injuries or catastrophic harm (e.g., amputation) when their job entails exposure to hazards like heat, fire, electricity, toxic chemicals (gas, vapor, liquid), and heavy machinery. Their employers must study and understand the particular hazards these employees face and how best to protect them from injuries that may include burns from flame or electric shock or chemical exposure, as well as cuts or fractures from heavy equipment and machinery.
Depending upon the job dangers, PPE may involve gloves, mittens, pads, and/or insulated sleeves made from a variety of materials (e.g., rubber, neoprene, etc.) which must meet the standards of the ANSI for arm and hand PPE.
4. Eye and Face Protection: Safety Glasses, Eye Protection, Face Shields
Some job sites endanger workers because of a proximity to toxic chemicals (acids, gases, vapors), radiation, flying objects, dust, or molten steel (or other metals). Employers need to provide PPE that protects both the eyes and face from harm. These may include safety glasses, goggles, face shields, or fitted face protectors, as defined by the standards established by ANSI.
5. Ear Protection: Ear Plugs, Ear Muffs
Some industrial work areas are incredibly noisy, so much so that the noise levels endanger workers with hearing loss or permanent hearing impairment. The employer must determine what specific PPE is needed for the work area to protect against danger of hearing injury.
The PPE for ears can include earplugs or earmuffs that are designed for the particular employee’s use. These are also defined by the standards established by ANSI.
PPE Failure and Worker Injuries in Illinois and Indiana
Every day in our part of the country, workers go to industrial jobsites where they face serious dangers as they perform their tasks, from our ironworkers and semi-truck drivers to our dock workers, roofers, welders, forklift operators, road construction crews, and coal miners. Read, Fatal Industrial Warehouse Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
Alongside experience and skill, these workers are well-versed in the particular hazards they encounter, and they rely upon their employers to keep them safe while on the job. Dangers facing people on the job in Indiana and Illinois include things like:
- Exposure to heat from fire or steam
- Exposure to hazardous chemicals
- Exposure to electricity
- Exposure to radiation
- Threat of falling from heights (roofs, scaffolds, ladders)
- Threat of crushing injuries in trenchwork or use of heavy machinery
- Threat of being hit from falling objects
- Threat of being hit by a motor vehicle
- Threat of being struck by objects.
Employers have a legal duty to understand these job-site dangers and to protect workers from being hurt or killed in an on-the-job accident. This duty includes understanding the correct PPE; providing it; and making sure all PPE on the site is in proper repair.
For more, read our earlier discussions in:
- Explosives and Fire: Workplace Explosion Accidents
- Chemical Accidents: Burns, Inhalation, or Neurological Work Injuries on the Job in Indiana or Illinois
- Accidents Involving Electric Shock and Exposure to Electricity
- Fatal Falls on the Job and the Employer’s Failure to Protect Worker From Fall Risk
- The High Risk of a Deadly Confined Space Accident on the Job
- Fewer Worker Deaths Nationally But Increase in Fatal Work Injuries in Indiana.
Workers in Indiana and Illinois who are severely hurt or killed in a work injury may investigate the incident to determine if Personal Protective Equipment issues were a factor in causing their harm. If so, laws of negligence, product liability, wrongful death, and workers’ compensation may provide avenues for justice to the PPE accident victim and their loved ones. Please be careful out there!
