Working with industrial equipment often involves a degree of risk. Engineering practices and working methods are put in place to mitigate the risk of injury worker's time loss, or death. Even with the dangers that are designed to be as safe as possible, a last line of defense is employed. The personal protective equipment (PPE) is the central axis in the security programs for workers. Protective equipment or prevention for all risks that have the potential to cause an accident, there is no corresponding designed to protect workers and mitigate the damage.

This concept is nothing new for most workers or industrial hygienists. However, one component of PPE is often overlooked. Industrial Clothing complements all types of PPE and is often the difference between an injury and a near miss. Careful examination of the clothing worn by workers to reveal new opportunities to provide better protection and accident prevention.

The right fit

The first rule of effective industrial clothing is fit. Industrial equipment with moving parts is the potential to engage the loose clothing and pull the arm of a worker or the entire body in a machine. There are over 200 fatalities a year and forty thousand amputations as a result directly from a worker who got into a machine during operation. Any ties, buckles, cords, or hanging clothing material must be destroyed or modified break. In addition, clothing must provide a sufficient range of motion and does not tighten.

Many companies use standard services to make sure the clothing is the correct size and to eliminate the need for people to have to borrow clothes from colleagues.

Industrial Textile – Head to Toe "

All garments should be thought of as a barrier against workplace hazards. Industrial equipment can be edges, abrasive surfaces, hot spots or cold, or moving parts that have the potential to cause injury. Therefore, clothing should be made of fiber and yarn with heavy duty reinforced seams to avoid rips and tears. As a safety helmet provides a protective barrier for the head, so that industrial clothing. Not enough to protect the eyes or hands or just the face, there should be no exposed body parts all from head to toe.

Best practices to protect the face, neck and head include coats and hoods similar to what professional landscapers use to protect against wood chips and stones can be thrown in the face. Monkeys, sweats, shirts and pants should cover most of the body surface. For the chemical industry, industrial clothing should also be waterproof to protect against splashes and spills and used in addition to masks, chemical aprons, gloves and splash gowns. Redundant layers are not a waste when it comes to safety.

The feet and ankles are another area of the body that see a lot of work during the day are often overlooked. Workers are on their feet all day, so the appropriate footwear to promote health and prevent long term back injury and disability as well as protect the feet. Steel-toed boots offer the best all-around protection including the impact and crushing blows to the toes and foot support to prevent ankle sprains, and stop and treads for slips, trips and falls.

Make lasting industrial clothing at each body part is the finishing touch to any configuration of the PPE.

Specialty Industrial Textiles

Each industry has its own special needs and unique dangers. In addition to the above guidelines, each workplace should be evaluated for specific risks that may require additional specifications for clothing.

Working environments of low visibility, working construction and traffic and outdoor and all jobs overnight mandate high visibility clothing. This includes colored vests, reflective materials or bands, and battery lights if necessary. Any workplace that has large amount of hot work or contains flammable chemicals and materials should be investing in the clothing flame resistance. High temperatures, flash fires, and fires arc can generate enough heat to melt the clothes to the flesh. Fireproof wires and wall will protect a worker from these conditions long enough to escape the area. Be warned that even flame resistant clothing will not allow a person to walk the fire or withstand prolonged exposure. Even the equipment used by firefighters is not perfect.

In general, industrial clothing is the last line of defense against injuries when working with industrial equipment. Even in safer workplaces or when working at home, the protection is always necessary. All a worker leads should contribute to their personal safety in general.

Chris Harmen is an author for Reid Supply Company, a distribution company with a 60 year history supplying customers in all 50 states and over 40 countries with industrial equipment and industrial apparel.

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