Duraclean Journal of Marketing, Management and Technical Topics

The question often arises about how can you, as a business owner, get all of your employees to wear their safety gear all of the time. A survey was taken of 290 business owners and then safety managers responded as to how they would deal with the five biggest PPE excuses.

Solution: You should get workers involved in the selection of PPE. Ask them what the comfort and fit issues are with their gear. You can work with several of the employees to order several trial samples of regulatory-compliant gear for the type of situation in which it is to be used. Once the sample gear is in hand you can have those employees test it. If no consensus is reached, note whether people with certain physical characteristics match up better with certain types. You may have to order more than one type to accommodate those differences and satisfy those workers.

Solution: When safety gear training is provided, have your workers sign a paper stating that they have received and understand the training. Once that has been done to enforce this policy your supervisors will have to follow up with disciplinary action for non-compliance.

Excuses: "I didn't have time" or "it takes too much time" are the reasons that 18% of safety pros hear as excuses from workers who fail to wear PPE.

Solution: Ask workers why they feel time is a factor and listen carefully to their answers. You may have a conflict between production and safety. In that case, ask production workers to emphasize that work doesn't start until safety gear is put on. Also, some workers may not have been properly trained in the donning of PPE.

Solution: Illustrate to the employees that accidents can happen. Invite someone who has had a serious workplace injury and is willing to talk about it. Have the person explain in detail how the injury happened and how it has impacted their life. Everyday activities that we often take for granted may be more difficult or impossible now for the seriously injured person to perform. Another tactice would be to tell your employees to put an arm behind their back and have them try a simple task such as tying their shoes.

Excuses: The rest, 34%, say "I just forgot." Verify first that the fit, comfort or time is a factor before accepting this excuse.

Solution: Have a strong safety policy in effect. The policy should specify how often it's acceptable for someone to "just forget" and what will be the consequences. Universal enforcement including dismissal, if appropriate, will send a message to others to always wear their PPE when required.