need to conscientiously work towards ensuring that Personal Protective Equipment use in any work place environment are convenient and meet the objective of employee protection.
The correct usage of Personal Protective Equipment begins with a proper understanding of the degree and nature of hazards that employees in an organization may potentially face. A succinct understanding of potential hazards would then guide an employer in properly selecting the right Personal Protective Equipment. For example, when an employer is selecting a breathing apparatus, he must ensure that the equipment selected will fit the physique of the employee for whom the equipment is intended. Other pertinent characteristics of an ideal Personal Protective Equipment include ease of use and the level of comfort offered by the equipment. Employers must also consider whether the Personal Protective Equipment effectively meets the demands presented by the work environment.
In order to derive the maximum benefit and realize the intended objective of any Personal Protective Equipment, both employers and employees must learn to adhere to the correct usage of techniques for all Personal Protective Equipment. For example, it would be incorrect to fit a particular respirator with various brands of filter, since each filter may be customized for its own brand of respirator and the respirators may not be exactly similar. Similarly, it would be inappropriate to clean the filters with water, since that is not the prescribed agent of cleaning the filters.
Another fundamental aspect of correct usage of Personal Protective Equipment entails their maintenance. Personal Protective Equipment should always be cleaned and dried well after they are used. Employers have the mand...
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Conclusion
In order to foster appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment, both employers and employees have specific mandates relating to safe handling, storage and use of Personal Protective Equipment. Some Personal Protective Equipment are delicate and if not handled appropriately, are likely to be destroyed and their duration shortened through reckless use. Specifically, employers are mandated to ensure that their employees are provided with appropriate training, guidance and effective supervision to ensure that they are cognizant of the reason for using Personal Protective Equipment in the course of dispensing their duties. Such supervision may entail ensuring that employees not only use the protective gear appropriately, but also adhere to replacement schedules for such gear and observe the limitations of Personal Protective Equipment to avoid misuse.
Professional Safety, 46(10), 20-25. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=5367632&site=ehost-live&scope=site McGuire, C. (2011, April). Workplace Safety 100 Years Ago! Safety Compliance Letter(2524), 1-6.
1.4 – State why and when health and safety control equipment, identified by the principles of protection, should be used relating to types, purpose and limitations of each type, the work situation, occupational use and the general work environment, in relation to:
Decontamination packing and sterilization of surgical instrumentation. 2. Prosing and reposing of procedures reusable medical devices. 3. Cleaning testing assembly, and distribution of movable patient care equipment.
Western Australian Department of Education. (2010). Occupational Safety and Health. WA: Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/policies/occupational-safety-and-health.en?bbp.s=9&bbp.e=select&bbp.v=4&bbp.i=d0.1&bbp.8.policyID=10918572&g11n.enc=UTF-8&bbp.9.pane=0
(2014) shed light on two key components for infection control, which includes protecting patients from acquiring infections and protecting health care workers from becoming infected (Curchoe et al., 2014). The techniques that are used to protect patients also provide protection for nurses and other health care workers alike. In order to prevent the spread of infections, it is important for health care workers to be meticulous and attentive when providing care to already vulnerable patients (Curchoe et al., 2014). If a health care worker is aware they may contaminate the surroundings of a patient, they must properly clean, disinfect, and sterilize any contaminated objects in order to reduce or eliminate microorganisms (Curchoe et al., 2014). It is also ideal to change gloves after contact with contaminated secretions and before leaving a patient’s room (Curchoe, 2014). Research suggests that due to standard precaution, gloves must be worn as a single-use item for each invasive procedure, contact with sterile sites, and non-intact skin or mucous membranes (Curchoe et al., 2014). Hence, it is critical that health care workers change gloves during any activity that has been assessed as carrying a risk of exposure to body substances, secretions, excretions, and blood (Curchoe et al.,
The safety procedures that I follow while at work include maintaining a safe and steady pace, wearing protective gear when needed, and reporting all unsafe conditions to my boss. It is important to me that I do well on my job so I am able to save money to financially support myself in the near future. In leisure activities, such as sports, I make sure I am wearing the proper equipment so I don’t get injured. In my free time I also enjoy volunteering at the animal shelter. When helping out with the cats, I wear gloves and long sleeves to avoid getting scratched while cleaning out their cage. While working with the dogs, I always have to put them on a leash before opening the kennels in order to ensure the safety of me and everyone else who is in the building.
An estimated nine million people in the United States use more than three billion needles. These needles and syringes are used by diabetics, hemophiliacs, infertility patients and allergy sufferers to manage medical conditions at home. Some sharps users throw used needles in the trash or flush then down the toilet. This population of self-injecting individuals continues to grow each year. The majority of these needles are being disposed of in household trash. Used sharps left loose among other waste can hurt sanitation workers during collection rounds, at sorting and recycling facilities and at landfills. But it is not only sanitation management workers that are at risk. Improperly discarded needles and other sharps put a variety of other individuals at risk including policemen and firemen, ambulance personnel, janitorial and custodial workers, laundry and dry-cleaning facilities, hotels, park and recreation employees. The number of needle- sticks in the waste industry is very difficult to track. Waste companies are required by law to report injuries in Occupational Safety and Health Administration 300 logs, but due to the nature of this business, many workers may not even be aware they have been stuck. Waste workers are lifting, ...
"Personal Protective Equipment." Rutgers School of Public Health. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
This section describe exposure limit of hazarded and personal protective measure that can be used to control and minimized worker exposure. Personal protective equipment that should be used if there is a potential for exposure above the regulatory or suggested limits, then it can be used to avoid injury and illness from exposure of chemical. Personal protective equipment is specific for eye, skin and face or respiratory equipment based on hazarded and potential exposure.
Alaqqad (2009:29); Olson et al. (2009:384); Kheni, Gibb and Dainty (2006); Rajendran and Gambatese (2009) indicated that, construction organisations should provide appropriate equipment to avoid the probabilities of accidents to workers. Kenrick (2012) supported this by saying increased injuries and illness may arise due to improper use of PPE. According to Othman et al. (2008:49) the successful use of PPE requires good user training, good supervision, enforcement and the availability of the correct equipment. They further identified several types of PPE that will assist the wearer with maximum health risk if this equipment fails. The types of PPE includes: safety shoes, hearing protection, eye protection, hard hats, hand protection, protective clothing, safety harnesses and belts etcetera.
As for employees, it is essential for them to work together and cooperate with one another to prevent any accidents from occurring and to not carry out any actions that may be reckless and bring harm to their fellow colleagues. They are ultimately responsible for the safety of their colleagues and themselves. Failing to do so will not only cause mishaps but it may also result in parties being convicted for breaching this act.
Safety is a primary concern in the health care environment, but there are still many preventable errors that occur. In fact, a study from ProPublica in 2013 found that between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year suffer preventable harm in the hospital (Allen, 2013). Safety in the healthcare environment is not only keeping the patient safe, but also the employee. If a nurse does not follow procedure, they could bring harm to themselves, the patient, or both. Although it seems like such a simple topic with a simple solution, there are several components to what safety really entails. Health care professionals must always be cautious to prevent any mishaps to their patients, especially when using machines or lifting objects, as it has a higher
In the lines of work where serious injuries are everyday threats and employees are exposed to hazardous environment, companies are taking precaution measures in order to make sure that their employees are protected from harms and injuries. These lines of work include workers in the oil field, offshore, mining location and construction site. The best safeguard for the workers are by wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) depending on the requirement.
Prepare a safe environment for employees in which to work, as well as equipment that are safe to work with.
A hazard is defined as an activity or object that has the potential to cause harm if contact is made with the person, object or activity (MHS, 1996; Harmse, 2007; HSE, 2006). These hazards in a work place need to be identified and dealt with accordingly to prevent any harm to employees or any individual acquainted to a certain activity or establishment. The key roles and principles of occupational hygiene are Anticipation, Identification, Evaluation and Control (Schoeman and van den Heever, 2014; Harmse, 2008; SAMTRAC, 2012). To practise in accordance to the above principle; a hazard identification and risk assessment needs to be conducted. Anticipation is the foreseeing of the activity