Personal Protective Equipment is wearable equipment that protect you against health or safety risks, while working. These items include, but aren’t limited to, safety footwear, harnesses, gloves, hard hats, and dual layer memory foam insoles. The need and various industries that require or need PPE is vast. From manufacturing, agriculture, construction, to catering the range of PPE products vary.
The Importance of PPE
Safety guidelines are set in place to protect employees while working. One of the first lines of defense against health and safety hazards are PPE products. Wearing the proper garments and gear does not eliminate workplace obstacles, however it allows employees to approach their work in a safer manner.
Even if you don’t work on a construction site, your home, personal workspace, and yard can be just as dangerous. Regardless of where you are, being safety minded can literally prevent severe injury, and be life saving. There are many types of PPE available to protect you, and your employees on the job.
Eye Protection
You’ve probably heard people say, “the eyes are the window to the soul.” Well, one thing you may have missed is that your eyes are just as fragile, even more so, than windows. At work, you may face metal or chemical splashes, gas, radiation, dust, and much more. Make sure you’re wearing proper eye protection, that fits correctly while protecting your eyes. Some examples of great protective eyewear includes; goggle, glasses/spectacles, and face shields.
Head and Neck Protection
Remember when you first learned how to ride a bike? A little shaky, moving slowly, you may have been afraid to fall. Your parents probably put a helmet on your head. Not only was this an excellent step towards creating safety mindfulness, but they genuinely wanted to protect you from harm.
Working today, is no different than when you learned how to ride your bike, and your parents would probably agree. The proper PPE equipment for your head and neck, can prevent falling or flying objects from severely hurting you.
Some examples of PPE head and neck protection includes bump caps, helmets, hairnets, scarves, and firefighter helmets. You can also incorporate eye protection with some helmets by fitting them with eye or hearing protection. You may not be learning to ride a bike, but you head, neck, and life is just as valuable.
Ear Protection
If we say “ear protection” and you say “what?” It’s probably a good time to start taking better care of your hearing. Loud machinery or workplaces can cause real damage to your ear drums and hearing health. You can prevent noise with PPE ear protection like earmuffs, earplugs, and semi-insert/canal caps.
Hands and Arm Protection
At work, we know you’re always on the move. Sometimes, the environment we work in moves much quicker than we do. Having your arms and hands protected is important. You can cut, scrape, puncture, get shocked, or face other tragic accidents without proper protection. It’s important to wear gloves, often with a cuff or sleeve that covers either all or part of your arms to prevent injury from radiation, vibration, chemicals, or other hazards.
Feet and legs
Tired after a long day at work? We bet your feet feel it too. Foot protection means so much more than wearing a new pair of boots or shoes. It’s very important to wear the right kind of work boot or work shoe, while on the job. It’s also important to make sure your foot is properly supported and cushioned.
Fortunately, MEGAComfort® Insoles were created specifically to reduce pain and fatigue, while cushioning your feet with its patented dual layer memory foam. Dr. Kevan Orvitz created MEGAComfort with the working warrior in mind. Understanding how much time and pressure is put on your feet, he set out to create a product line of insoles for every worker, in multiple workplaces and situations.
MEGAComfort offers Personal Anti-Fatigue Matting (PAM)® Insoles for maximum shock absorption and comfort in your work shoes or boots, in addition to ESD, Puncture Resistant, Gel and Orthotic Insoles.
Besides insoles, it’s important to wear the right socks. MEGAComfort offers the MEGASock, made with 50% wool to provide protection from heat, cold, and are more durable than the average sock. For temporary use only, when steel toe protection is required. MEGAComfort also offers it new and improved Steel Toe Overshoe. Ensuring proper foot protection means staying happy and healthy on your feet longer.
The Big Picture
PPE products are about more than just individual products, protecting certain regions of your body. Protective equipment is about maintaining your health and workplace safety. Some of these items, such as MEGAComfort Insoles and socks, can be worn outside of the workplace to protect you day to day from pain, fatigue, and extreme temperature changes.