What is safety equipment?
Safety equipment is an umbrella concept made up of products, gear, or items that help workers in all fields reduce the risk of injury or fatality in the workplace or dangerous environments. Safety equipment is also essential in everyday life, to help us stay safe and avoid accidents wherever we go.
What are the types of safety equipment?
There are multiple types of safety equipment and products, including but not limited to head protection, hand protection, face and eye protection, respiratory protection, and hearing protection. Personal safety equipment such as hard hats, gloves, safety masks and goggles, ear plugs and protective clothing are all ways to protect yourself and your employees from dangerous conditions while working at a hazardous job site.
Safety products such as traffic and safety cones, fire extinguishers and signs are all items that can be used in different situations with the same goal in mind: to keep the people around us and ourselves safe and free of injury. Besides the school supplies, classrooms also need to be equipped with safety equipment like informative signs, fire extinguishers, safety clothing for handling harsh chemicals, and even locks which keep students, staff, and faculty safe in school.
Head Protection
Injuries to the head can be very serious, so making sure your head and all other components of your head are protected while working is very important. Hard hats, helmets, earmuffs, goggles, and face shields are all useful pieces of head protection, especially for construction related jobs where injury is much more likely. Due to the high risk of injury which could result in serious or fatal incidents, head protection is essential and can help to avoid head-related accidents. W.B. Mason offers different types of head protective equipment that includes eye and face protection, as well as hearing protection. From hard hats and helmets to heavy duty earmuffs for loud noises, W.B. Mason has what you need for essential head protection.
Eye and Face Protection
Eye and face injuries can have negative effects on your eye health, vision, breathing abilities and more, so when working in hazardous or dangerous conditions, eye and face protection is important to prevent related injuries. Things like safety goggles, masks, and shields, are all useful to protect your eyes and face from germs or bacteria, chemicals, and UV light, or from constant exposure to environmental elements such as sand, dirt, and fire. Individuals who are in lines of work that are exposed to these elements should prevent injury or illness by wearing the necessary forms of safety gear to protect themselves.
Hearing Protection
Injuries to your ears such as hearing loss is a common result of not wearing protective gear such as ear plugs and earmuffs on job sites. These types of hearing equipment are crucial safety products when dealing with loud and harsh noises that can harm your sense of hearing. Per the CDC, hearing damage can take place as soon as exposure reaches up to 70 decibels, which can compare to listening to a washing machine or city traffic for long periods of time, possibly for multiple days at a time. Moldable ear plugs are often used as construction safety equipment and industrial safety equipment due to the continual loud noises that workers experience on job sites.
Respiratory Protection
Medical offices and hospitals usually require some sort of repository protection when doctors, nurses and technicians perform procedures or are around a sick patient. Face masks and respirators are essential to wear, as medical personnel might put themselves or the patient at risk for illness. W.B. Mason offers face masks, shields, and respirators for great prices and with fast delivery for any kind of healthcare setting.
Joint Protection
Joint protective equipment is used for preventative measures, that lowers the risk of future injuries stemming from joints like the knees, ankles, hips, arms etc. W.B. Mason offers products like knee pads, elbow sleeves, kneeling pads and more, at low prices with fast and easy delivery. Joint protection is important because taking care of your joints while at work can help reduce the risk of common injures like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ligament tears, tendonitis and so much more.
Hand Protection
Rubber and latex gloves, industrial gloves, and vinyl gloves are all essential examples of hand protection that can be used in different areas of work for various preventative measures. Things like germs, and bacteria, sharp and hot objects as well as heavy objects are all ways that hand protection items are useful while working.
Hospitals and medical offices go through lots of rubber or latex gloves to prevent the passing along of germs that they may pick up. Landscaping, electrical, or plumbing work requires heavy-duty gloves to protect against objects that could break, burn, or damage the skin on your hands. Household products such as rubber gloves and hand sanitizers also keep us safe from germs and are helpful when cleaning multiple surfaces with harsh chemicals that could enter the bloodstream.
Foot Protection
If you are working on your feet all day, you are going to need protective footwear that will keep you from developing foot related injuries. Foot protection includes boots with steel toes, boots and shoes with traction aid, traction devices, rainboots with steel toes, and supportive shoes made to be worn for hours on end. Individuals working in construction, parcel delivery, medical professionals, education, and foodservice industries need to wear some level of foot protection for preventative measures, and to reduce the risk or injury or negative long-term effects.
Protective Clothing
Protective clothing is important to wear so other people can recognize you in different weather conditions, at jobsites, or at nighttime. Items such as reflective vests and jackets make it easy for motorists to spot workers in hazardous weather conditions or at night. Reflective clothing can be used in work situations or for laborers to make themselves more visible. Protective clothing can also make an individual stand out from those around them, so people are able to recognize that the person wearing the protective clothing is in charge or is working at the jobsite. Protective clothing is essential in reducing the risk of mistakes that can lead to injuries, accidents, or confusion on jobsites.
Safety Products for Your Everyday Needs
Most items that you see daily either in your home, in the office, or at school don’t always come across as a safety item, but many things are. Things like traffic and safety cones, fire extinguishers, safety signs, caution tape or smoke and carbon monoxide detectors all help us to be informed and are ways to communicate emergencies. Although these are not safety items that you wear, these products are very important for worksite safety. They help prevent things like mistakes, accidents, or injuries, and help assist in communication between individuals.
What kind of work environments require safety equipment?
Safety supplies are needed in many different fields and work environments such as construction sites, medical offices or hospitals, industrial jobs, schools, and manufacturing sites. Individuals involved in these types of employment need many different necessary safety items to help reduce the risk of injury or other accidents that might occur and protect those who perform tasks that may put them in an unsafe situation.
Why is safety equipment important?
Safety products and gear are important in making sure that you and your employees are practicing safe habits while at job sites, or anywhere where personal safety equipment is needed. When handling materials or working in a fast-paced environment, the ultimate goal is to make sure everyone is staying as safe as possible and avoiding injury.
Just like the job environments listed above, safety products are also essential inside office buildings and schools as well. It’s great to make sure your workplace or classroom is equipped with office supplies, but safety items as well, as they can be helpful during an emergency or to inform and communicate with others.
Safety Equipment at W.B. Mason
W.B. Mason is a reliable safety equipment supplier for whatever industry you're in with low discounted prices and quick delivery to always ensure your jobsites and employees are safe. We are your one stop shop for all things safety equipment for all your safety needs. Whether that be apparel, personal protective equipment, traffic cones and signs, or even something as simple as safety tape, we have you covered!
CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention. What Noises Cause Hearing Loss? (www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/what_noises_cause_hearing_loss) Accessed June 14, 2022.
EFASSAFETY. Types of Safety Equipment. (https://efassafety.com/safety-news/types-of-safety-equipment/) Accessed June 14, 2022.
GuidesMag. Why Is It Important to Wear Protective Clothing? (https://www.guidesmag.com/personal-protective-equipment-importance) Accessed June 14, 2022.
References