PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Construction

Construction sites are notorious for posing far greater safety risks than typical industries. Providing your employees with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) is important to keeping them safe on the job and moving your project forward.

What is PPE?

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refers to any equipment worn or utilized by a worker to reduce the danger to his or her health and safety.

The lists of personal protection equipment (PPE) in construction that every construction worker should wear are as follows:

Head Protection /Safety Helmets/Hard Hat

Personal Protective Equipment: Safety hard hat

Almost all construction sites require head protection. Construction work should be managed to minimize any dangers to workers; however, hazards are likely to persist, and everyone will be required to wear safety helmets at all times while on site.

Workers should be provided with a safety helmet or hard hat to wear at work; bump caps only provide protection against non-moving dangers and are adequate for construction workers. 

Ear Protection

Protective Ear equipment

Ear muffs and ear plugs are two types of personal protective equipment (PPE) that protect against hearing dangers. Hearing protection is often overlooked in industrial environments because high levels of noise can be hazardous to the ears.

 Lung Protection

Personal Protective Equipment: Lung protection

When working on a construction site, employees are frequently exposed to risks such as dust, fumes, and vapours, necessitating the use of respiratory protection. When choosing respiratory PPE, it is important to verify that the chosen piece of equipment adequately fits the intended user. If the wrong respiratory PPE is chosen, an adequate seal may not be formed, leaving workers vulnerable to workplace hazards.

Since every filter is only suited for a restricted spectrum of chemicals, it is essential to use the correct type of respirator filter for the specific threat. Furthermore, filters have a finite lifetime. Workers must only wear breathing equipment and never utilize filtering cartridges if they are exposed to high amounts of dangerous fumes, tight spaces, or atmospheres with a lack of oxygen.

These are some examples of lung protection:

  • Filtering face pieces.
  • Respirators
  • Fresh-air hose.
  • Self-contained breathing apparatus.
  • Power-assisted respirators

Foot and Leg Protection /Safety Shoes

Personal Protective Equipment: Safety shoes

When working on a construction site, construction workers are required to wear protective footwear. A standard work boot might not be suitable for all working locations. Steel-toed boots can protect workers’ toes from falling items, whereas leather footwear can protect workers’ feet from fire or arc flash.

Eye and Face Protection

Personal Protective Equipment: Eye and Face ProtectionWhen exposed to risks such as chemical or metal spills, dust, projectiles, gas, vapours, and radiation, it is essential to wear eye and facial protection.

When choosing eye and facial protection, make sure it is task-appropriate and that the proper fit is chosen for each worker. Workers will still be at risk if this does not occur.

The following are examples of eye protection:

  • Face shields
  • Face screens.
  • Safety spectacles

Hand Protection

Personal Protective Equipment: Hand protection

Safety gloves must be worn by all workers who handle rough, sharp, or excessively coarse materials such as reinforcing bars, rods, pre-cast concrete, poisonous, electric, or hot items. The material used for these hand protectors must be suitable for the risks involved with such operations. Employees on the job site must wear gloves that are appropriate for their job description. When dealing with sandblasting and other materials, for example, chrome leather gloves should be worn. Fabricated gloves are used for working with abrasive materials. Electricians should use insulated rubber gloves.

Safety Belts/Safety Harness

Safety Belts/Safety HarnessEmployees on the jobsite who are working at a height of more than 2 meters must be fitted with a safety harness or belt to prevent them from falling. The safety harness’s anchoring point must be at least 5 meters above the ground level and above the worker’s head. This point should be able to sustain at least 5000 pounds of force (2275kg). Nylon or a material with a thickness of at least 1 cm should be used. For safety reasons, the hooks should be equipped with a double locking system that can only be opened by pushing both sections at the same time.

Protective Clothing/Reflected Vests

Safety Vest Protection Clothing Uniform Construction workers should wear appropriate protective clothing to protect themselves from hazards such as weather changes, electricity, impacts, and other risks. When doing site inspections and other site duties, site engineers should wear reflective vests to maintain visibility.

Read alsoCONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT and CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

Why is PPE important in construction?

PPE is important in construction because it limits individual workers’ exposure to site dangers when structural or administrative measures aren’t possible or effective in lowering risks to acceptable levels.