Occupational Health & Safety: America's workforce is becoming increasingly diverse in both gender and ethnicity. In 2010, women represented 47 percent of the U.S. labor force, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and they are expected to account for 51 percent of the increase in total labor force growth between 2008 and 2018. Furthermore, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the share of Hispanics in the U.S. workforce will more than double from 11 percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2050, as will the share of Asians, from 5 percent to 11 percent in the same period.
7 comments:
I'm so glad someone is paying attention to this issue! Safety glasses are a pretty big issue for me- I can almost never find ones in the shop that don't leave giant gaps around my eyes. They're simply designed to fit wider faces, and they don't actually shield me from particles (especially if it was coming from below, like from a table saw). As someone who is really nervous about anything that could hurt their vision, this really freaks me out. I finally got glasses of my own that fit better (after a pretty long search), but they still don't actually provide enough coverage for me to feel totally comfortable. The only other option is the very tight, wrap-around goggles that fog up almost immediately, and become almost more dangerous.
I don't understand why safety isn't the number one priority for every company. Even when it comes to saving money, "an eye injury that cost a company nearly $1 million could have been prevented with a $5 pair of safety spectacles or a $10 pair of goggles". It just doesn't make sense to compromise worker safety to save, at most, 30 bucks per person. It also just makes sense to have different fit and style options available to employees. Everyone is different and we have different size gloves and most other PPE, so why are most safety glasses one size fits all?
It's unfortunate that most safety glasses are "One size fits all." Perhaps the next ANSI Z87 revision should state that glasses are only compliant with the standard when they are size appropriately to the individual wearing them.
What does this mean for assembly lines that stock pallets of these glasses for workers? It means that instead of one pair of cheap glasses, they'll have to stock 4 sizes. I think that's great. Just because a pair of safety glasses technically passes compliance doesn't mean that it offers protection.
Anything can be brought back to OSHAs general duty clause. If eyewear doesn't fit or provide proper protection, regardless of it's certification or not, an employer should be (and is) responsible for rectifying the situation.
I'm glad this is getting attention, because I've long had a problem finding safety glasses that fit (without my glasses on, which is a separate issue). I think the solution is probably a few more points of adjustability built into the design, or simply sizing glasses like they do gloves etc. Frank's also right in that this could probably still be cited under OSHA's General Duty clause. It may seem painful for company's to have to replace a large quantity of PPE, but that cost is certainly less potentially damaging than an OSHA violation. Having appropriately-sized PPE also sends a message to workers that they're welcome regardless of size or gender, which is something everyone, company and workers, benefits from
This is something that I really relate to because I use the safety glasses available in the shop. The glasses are mostly all one size and I've noticed recently that even though I am wearing eye protection I keep getting sawdust in my eyes because it can get through the gap between the glasses and my face. If I had better fitting glasses then I would have less stuff end up in my eyes and they would be better protected.
I wonder if the solution to ill fitting PPE is a "bring your own protection" policy. Perhaps the company could provide employees with a stipend with which to find correctly fitting and stylish PPE. Maybe that would solve the issues mentioned in this article.
At any rate, as an average sized guy, I haven't really encountered any issues with poorly fitted one size fits all PPE, but I can see how others might have difficulty. Hopefully producers will realize this concern and make variable sizes of PPE.
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