Speech on Importance of Personal Protective Equipment

Honorable Judges,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentleman

I would like to thank you first for giving me this opportunity to stand here and speak on the
importance of wearing Personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment which is
known in short as PPE are used for the protection of body, eyes, hearing and respiratory
protection for example ear muffs, ear plugs, spectacles, goggles and face mask.

Ladies and gentlemen before I highlight the importance of personal protective equipment, I
want to share a tragic incident on the peak of Mount Everest which will help us to understand
that wearing proper PPE is not just an obligation rather it is our critical need.

Ladies and gentleman, area above 8000 m on Mount Everest is called death zone. David Sharp
was engineer and great climber who had summited Mount Everest in 2003 and 2004
successfully but in 2006 during his third attempt, he decided to save 700 dollar on PPE and
wear light face mask with oxygen cylinder instead of proper face mask which was standardized
PPE at that time.On 15 the May 2006 , when he reached death zone that light face mask could
not with stand the conditions and started to leak oxygen and soon in death zone , his oxygen
tank become empty. He died there on that night but even in his death there is a lesson.When
his oxygen tank run out and he got and he sat near a cave due to low oxygen , 40 climbers
walked passed him that night on their way up to Everest but no one could rescue him while he
was slowly duying.The last climber that passed him that night left him saying “Why did you not
wear Proper PPE, Perhaps now you will learn the hard way”.

Ladies and gentleman, safety is a major issue for human resources. Each year, accidents happen
frequently in industries and often times is due to absence of Personal Protective Equipment or
failure to wear the provided PPE by HSE department.PPE is equipment that will protect workers
against health or safety risks on the job.The purpose of PPE is to reduce the employee
exposures to hazards during work.PPE include items such as protective helmets, eye
protection , high-visibility clothing, safety footwear, safety harness. SNGPL HSE department has
provided all the departments with complete PPE.We often wear white and yellow colored
safety helmets .They are designed to protect sngpl workers from flying or falling objects that
would otherwise impact the workers during different kind of transmission activities. Safety
googles, spectacles and full face shields can give our workers protection needed for the eyes
and face during several kind of activities for example during welding jobs. In 2017 it was
estimated that 3000 Americans each year get diagnosed with a form on cancer due to exposure
. Respiratory protection such as face masks are vital on sites where toxic substances are present
for example metering personal wear facemasks during odorant filling activity. A lot of work in
sngpl is done by hands. Gloves are an essential item in providing skin protection from hazards
involving work with chemicals, metal, electricity.Each year, around 150,000 hand injuires are
reported globally in industries that require the use of hands. Ear Plugs and ear muffs are
common hearing protection tools and are always used in Metering flow Prover cell during its
operation as the noise level exceeds 75 dba .

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been almost 19 years and 4 months since last work day injury was
reported in sngpl and PPE have played a vitol role in this achievement. PPE increases the
quality of your workday. Think of PPE as a support system of sorts for the work your job
requires you to do. It may be more physically demanding but equipment is provided to make
you feel the physical risk is minimal.HSE department is working to implement policies and
procedures as per ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and reduce hazardous situations for sngpl
workers on job.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would conclude my speech here with reference to remarks which david
sharp reassured his worrying mother before he left England to conquer everest to meet his
death, he said “ Mother do not worry, we are never alone on our own, there are climbers
everwhere” yet no one came to his rescue.Every day when we work in sngpl do remember that
there is some one waiting for you at home.Wear PPE always that is what the theme of HSE
week 2019 : Safety Always First. Thank You.1