Five Misunderstandings of Using Personal Protective Equipment

Wearing suitable protective equipment is the last line of defense to protect the life and health of workers in the enterprise. Proper use of suitable protective equipment can effectively prevent occupational poisoning and occupational diseases. However, during the company inspection, it was found that many companies' managers and workers have misunderstandings in the use of personal protective equipment, and are prominently reflected in five aspects: personal protective equipment can be worn or not, and gauze masks can be used to prevent dust. The Municipal Safety Supervision Bureau reminded enterprises that they should attach great importance to taking effective measures to eliminate the misunderstanding of the use of personal protective equipment.

[Miscation 1] Personal protective equipment can be worn or not

Personal protective equipment can eliminate or reduce the impact of occupational hazards on workers’ health. The Occupational Disease Prevention Act stipulates that employers must provide laborers with protective equipment that meets the requirements and that workers are obliged to wear protective equipment.

Misunderstanding 2 No odor in the workshop, no need to wear personal protective equipment

Many of the harmful gases are colorless, odorless, tasteless, and have no warning or feeling. Even if there is odor, there are limitations and individual differences in the sensory organs' perception of the outside world. Therefore, excessive belief in feelings may lead to occupational poisoning.

Misunderstanding 3 gauze mask can be used to prevent dust

Ordinary gauze masks cannot be used as dust masks. The gauze masks we use today are cheap, sweat-absorbent in the summer, and warm in the winter. However, such masks (16 layers thick) cannot protect against the hazards of respiratory dust from pneumoconiosis. Special dust masks are required for dust protection.

[Miscellaneous 4] medical masks used to prevent poison

Medical masks can prevent disease from spreading through droplets, but they cannot filter toxic gases. For different poisons, use different respirator masks. Anti-general volatile organic gas can use activated carbon respirator.

Misunderstanding 5: Dust mask washing and reuse

Dust masks cannot be washed with water. The high-efficiency filters used for dust masks are usually non-woven materials, and some rely on electrostatic charges on fibers to filter respiratory dust. After washing, the microstructure of the filter material is impaired, cracks and holes that are invisible to the naked eye occur, electrostatic charges are greatly lost, and the filtration performance is severely degraded.