Protective clothing, commonly known as PPE, is specialized protective clothing, masks, eye protection, or any other protective gear or equipment that is meant to protect a person's body from illness or harm. Heat, chemical, physical, and biohazards are examples of dangers handled by protective gear. Protective clothing refers to a wide range of goods designed to protect people from various risks and situations. The strength and capability of this device to offer adequate protection varies.
Employers demand the usage of protective gear in the workplace for a variety of reasons. To begin, employees must have the information, skills, and confidence to respond effectively to dangerous workplace situations. Employers can select from a wide range of PPE items based on the kind and severity of the working hazard that requires protection. There is, for example, protective clothing for chemical workers; high-pressure equipment for oil and gas platforms and related operations; electrical dangers such as shock and electrocution; and physical hazards such as burns, cuts, and slips. As such, it is not enough for an employer to consider the hazards of each type of worker at their workplace; he or she must also assess and decide what kind of personal protective equipment would be most beneficial in each specific situation.
Employers should factor in the expense of purchasing and maintaining protective gear for each employee who will be using it. The cost of purchasing and maintaining protective gear varies depending on the type of hazard encountered at work. Employees use protective gear to work to enhance their vulnerability to injury hazards. Protective clothing is intended to provide a better level of self-protection than objects worn directly on the skin. However, because the protective gear is frequently neglected, it is likely that it causes more harm than benefit. For example, an employee may wear ill-fitting PPE, exposing himself or herself to unnecessary hazards; or an employee may wear low-quality protective gear, which does not protect him or her from dangerous workplace behaviors or situations.
Employees should keep in mind that, while protective gear can help minimize occupational injuries, it cannot prevent or treat all workplace risks. Protective gear only assists personnel in reducing the dangers of certain hazards. Protective gear, for example, is useless if an employee is unable to recognize and defend himself against a fall. Similarly, an employee who is wearing PPE that prevents him from crushing his leg against anything when stepping on a slick surface may be more likely to slip and fall than an employee who is not wearing PPE. When determining whether to compel employees to wear protective gear, the employer must weigh the advantages against the dangers.
Employees may also need to weigh the relative expenses of wearing protective gear vs the costs of avoiding workplace risks. Protective clothing is more expensive than other options, such as avoiding dangerous behaviors and settings; and adopting basic safety precautions, such as wearing the proper clothes and making sure he or she is well-trained in how to utilize protective clothing. This does not necessarily imply that employees will have reduced health-care expenditures after being required to wear protective gear in the job. To determine whether the benefits of protective clothing outweigh the costs of providing workers with protective clothing, employers may need to weigh the costs of providing workers with protective clothing against the costs of avoiding hazardous behaviors, accidents, and exposure to workplace hazards.
