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Process Cleaning Magazine
© 2012
AMT-The Association For Manufacturing Technology
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PC FEATURE
A survey by Kimberly-Clark Professional found that 89 percent of safety professionals had observed workers not wearing safety equipment when they should have been and that 29 percent said this had happened on numerous occasions.
All of the 119 survey respondents said they were responsible for purchasing, selecting or influencing the purchase or selection of PPE or industrial wiping solutions.
According to company, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective. Yet, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that, of the workers who sustained a variety of on-the-job injuries, the vast majority were not wearing PPE.
Seventy-eight percent of respondents said workplace accidents and injuries were their highest concerns. Worker compliance with safety protocols also was cited as the top workplace safety issue. Twenty-eight percent of respondents chose this, while 21 percent selected “fewer workers.” “Insufficient management support for health and safety functions” and “meeting the safety needs of an aging workforce” tied at 18 percent. Lack of funds to implement safety programs was last at 8 percent.
As for the reasons for such high levels of noncompliance, 69 percent of those respondents who observed PPE noncompliance said the primary cause was workers thinking that PPE wasn’t needed. This was followed by the perception that PPE was uncomfortable, too hot, poor fitting, not available near work tasks or unattractive looking.
The top strategies that safety managers said they have taken or plan to take in the near future to encourage greater PPE compliance were: improving existing education and training programs (61 percent) and increased monitoring of employees (48 percent). These were followed by: purchasing more comfortable PPE, tying compliance to individual performance evaluations, purchasing more stylish PPE and developing incentive programs.
When it comes to compliance with PPE protocols, eye protection was found to be the “most challenging” PPE category, according to 24 percent of respondents. Nearly three out of five workers who experienced eye injuries were found not to be wearing eye protection at the time of the accident or were wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job.
The next highest category for noncompliance was hearing protection (18 percent), followed by respiratory protection/masks (17 percent), protective apparel (16 percent), gloves (14 percent) and head protection (4 percent).
The survey also touched on potential exposure to heavy metals, environmental concerns and disaster preparedness.