Safety Awakening – “Walk In Their Shoes”

June 6, 2014 No Comments

“Walk In Their Shoes”

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Many years ago, I was going to recommend to a consulting client that they require their finishing department employees wear half-face, air-purifying respirators for the entire shift.  But before actually making this recommendation, I thought that I’d try wearing this respirator while working around the house on a weekend.

Well, I tried it, and at the end of my little experiment:

• my face was irritated
• I had red marks where the edges of the respirator touched my skin
• the increased resistance on my lungs made me feel very tired

I decided that requiring employees to wear such a respirator would be uncomfortable and exhausting.

Instead of respirators, I was able to convince that employer into use engineering controls (ventilation) to reduce the airborne concentrations of the toxic chemical enough so that respirators would not be needed.

These days before I recommend any personal protective equipment (PPE) I try it out first on myself.

 

Awakenings