Personal Injury Law

Iowa Workers' Compensation - PERC - Part VIII - Drycleaning Wearing the Right Protective Equipment

By Steve Lombardi

Personal Protective Equipment - This is the workers first line of defense. But just having personal protective equipment is useless if you don't use it or wear it. And if you use it but it's not maintained, working properly or properly worn it may be doing more harm than good. So know your equipment, read the manuals that come with it and check the manufacturer's website for updates or alerts.

Amazing that in the NIOSH study at most of the shops studied there was no established respiratory protection program. A review of OSHA citations in the drycleaning industry from January 1984 to January 1994 revealed that most violations resulted from noncompliance with one broad paragraph in the standard 29 CFR 1910.132a:

"Personal protective equipment shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment . . . ."

This safety regulation addresses use and maintenance not only of respirators but also of other types of personal protective equipment. All of the shops studied had respirators; however, most respirators were not properly maintained and were seldom used. Most of the respirators were defective, having deformed face pieces and straps that had lost their elasticity. Only one shop, which performed respirator fit testing, met the requirements in 29 CFR 1910.134 for a minimum acceptable program.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on February 09, 2008 (boomark / email).