If you are an employee who faces certain inherent and unavoidable hazards at work, then you deserve the right personal protection equipment, or PPE. This is designed to make it safer for you to do your job by mitigating some of the risks that you face. For example, The most common type of PPE for a construction worker is a hard hat. But examples could also contain things like eyeglasses, headphones or earmuffs, high-visibility vests, rope and harness systems and much more.
First and foremost, if your employer fails to or refuses to give you the PPE that you need, it’s important to know exactly what steps to take. It may not be safe to do a job without the right equipment, and you do not need to intentionally put yourself in harm’s way. At the same time, if your employer does give you PPE, it’s also important to know that it is the correct option for the job.
Different types of masks
An example of this is if you need a mask to protect yourself from breathing in different particles or hazards in the air. Many carpenters will use simple wood dust masks. Breathing in wood dust can cause a lot of respiratory problems, but a simple paper mask can filter out these particles as the carpenter works.
However, if you are working around something like asbestos, then you need a more highly-rated mask, such as an N-100 mask. If your employer gives you a wood dust mask, it is not actually going to protect you from those hazardous asbestos particles. It appears that you’ve been given the right PPE, but you have not, and you are still facing elevated risks due to your employer’s negligence.
If you do suffer on-the-job injuries, you also need to know about your legal options. so that you get the benefits you deserve from worker’s comp.