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Comprensión de Lectura en Inglés para IME

Profa. Martha Patricia Martínez Miranda
Eye and face protection: 7 key considerations

Eye and face protection: 7 key considerations.

Taken from: https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/19220-eye-and-face-protection-7-key-considerations

Dave Murphy grew up wearing prescription eyewear, __(1)__ his awareness of eye and face protection at
work admittedly had a head start.

5 Still, “some folks, they just don’t seem to get used to (having to
wear) it,” said Murphy, safety director at the Indianapolis office of
Pepper Construction. “They’re uncomfortable – they’re fighting it
all the time.”

A diverse cross-section of jobs requires eye __(2)__ face

10 protection and neglecting to wear the appropriate personal
protective equipment is one common mistake workers make.

With insight from Murphy and other safety experts, Safety+Health takes a look at seven key
considerations to keep in mind __(3)__ selecting eye and face protection.

1. Where’s your PPE?

15 OSHA data shows that the most frequently cited section of the agency’s standard for Personal Protective and
Life Saving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102) during fiscal years 2018 and 2019 reflected an
absence of proper PPE.

Section 1926.102(a)(1) states that “the employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate
eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid
20 chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.”

Additionally, employers must make sure side protection is included when hazards from flying objects are
present. “Detachable side protectors (e.g., clip-on or slide-on side shields) meeting the pertinent requirements
of this section are acceptable,” section 1926.102(a)(2) states.

25 “It’s not a choice, it’s a rule,” said Ricky Rollins, a longtime steel industry supervisor who is now a
motivational speaker in the safety field.

2. Stay up to date

For guidance on the most current eye and face protection, OSHA refers to the consensus standard
ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010, Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices. An
30 annex to an update of that standard, ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2015, includes a selection guide “intended to aid in
identifying and selecting the types of eye and face protectors that are available, their capabilities, and
limitations for the hazards listed.”

The guide provides examples of five common hazards – impact, heat, chemical, dust and optical radiation –
that require eye and face protection.

35 “That’s a very quick way to get an idea of what’s available and what they might need for their situation,”
said James Harris, an engineer at NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. “__(4)__,
definitely, if they’re not a safety professional themselves, working with somebody who’s familiar with
hazard/risk assessment for their situation is very important.”
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Comprensión de Lectura en Inglés para IME
Profa. Martha Patricia Martínez Miranda
Eye and face protection: 7 key considerations

3. Hidden hazards

40 Conducting a pre-job hazard assessment on PPE is “paramount” for workers and employers, Harris said.
__(5)___, a shifting work climate in which many employees balance multifaceted job responsibilities can
create extra challenges.

___(6)___, Harris said to consider a manufacturing worker who completes a similar set of tasks on a
production line each day. Every two weeks, __(7)__, he or she must undertake a maintenance task that may
45 present a different set of hazards than what the worker is typically accustomed to during a shift.

In these instances, the worker should pause and rethink the situation and what PPE is appropriate.

“The hazards that may pose the highest risk are those that are not typical operations,” Harris said. “It seems
__(8)__ it’s these non-routine situations that can often lead to injuries.”

50 4. Ill-fitting PPE

“PPE should be comfortable and fit the user,” Garnet Cooke, Oregon OSHA pesticide coordinator, wrote in
an email to S+H. He added that if it is loose, “chemicals will leak inside.”

Apply this same principle to various hazards in other industries, experts say. Ill-fitting equipment can only
enhance the risk of an incident.

55 ___(9)___ it might seem elementary, it can still be easy for employers to overlook the fact that workers’
faces come in all shapes and sizes, Rollins said. There should be no such thing as one-size-fits-all eye and
face protection, whether a job requires five people or 50.

“The width, the angle of the face, the angle of your eyes going back to your cheeks – everything is different,”
Rollins said. “The key is to be well-fitted to each individual’s face to get the maximum protection for that
60 person, no doubt. I think that’s probably the biggest mistake some people make, is that they don’t have a
number of different styles for people to have fitted to their face to know which one feels best, which one fits
best to protect (them).”

5. Prescription eyewear probably won’t protect you

Employers and workers need to remember that prescription eyewear typically differs from safety eyewear.
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“Sometimes people think, ‘Well, __(10)_ I have eyeglasses, that is eye protection,’” Harris said. “That’s not
necessarily true because you need special materials, especially if you’re exposed to impact-type hazards.”

___(11)___, Harris said, polycarbonate plastic is commonly used in safety eyewear and has different
70 performance characteristics than glass.

Under section 1926.102(a)(3), employers are required to ensure workers who wear prescription lenses use
eye protection that includes the prescription in its design or allows PPE to be worn over the prescription
lenses without compromising lens positioning and function.

Employers __(12)__ need to monitor workers who don’t require an optical prescription, as well as frequently
75 communicate the ways that safety eyewear is different.

“People want to go out and buy $400 glasses and wear them on a jobsite,” Murphy said. “Just __(13)__ they
cost a lot of money doesn’t mean that they’re going to protect your eyes from impact. So that’s a constant
issue.”
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Comprensión de Lectura en Inglés para IME
Profa. Martha Patricia Martínez Miranda
Eye and face protection: 7 key considerations

6. Safe removal

80 When is it appropriate for workers to remove eye and face protection?

“Not when the job is done,” Rollins said. “When you leave the shop is when you take your [PPE] off.”

During pesticide use, Cooke said workers can take off PPE when they’re no longer exposed to the hazard,
meaning the job is complete and they’ve been decontaminated.

Murphy suggests employers remind workers to be extra cognizant of their surroundings when using face
85 shields. If dust or other debris pose a hazard, for example, wipe the top of the hard hat where it meets the
face shield before flipping up the face shield.

“We’ve had a few incidents where we’ve had to flush some eyes out just from that circumstance,” Murphy
said. “Trying to do the right thing and ending up hurting yourself.”

7. Maintenance misuse

90 Experts say they occasionally see improper storage of PPE and note that it can lead to a reduction in the
equipment’s effectiveness and lifespan.

“PPE must be stored in a clean and sanitary location, free of temperature extremes – for example, not left in
a vehicle,” Cooke wrote. “Totes that are small enough to accommodate clean PPE make excellent storage
containers – easily grabbed for the day’s events. Taping a list of the items that the tote should contain on the
95 bottom of the lid makes resupply a breeze.”

For PPE cleaning guidelines, “rely on the manufacturer’s instructions there,” Harris said.

OSHA says shared protectors must be disinfected between uses by workers.