Yes, you noticed the shorter headline, didn’t you?

Unlike my ongoing blogs in October about all kinds of safety briefs, this month’s installment will be just this post. I cannot promise that I won’t have more later in the month, but these are the last ones currently on my desk that I really should get out to you. I beg your indulgence.

The briefs I found today have to do with the face and nose, primarily. One has to do with information about face and eye protection standards, and the other has to do with respiratory issues. See, I don’t just fill space with these things – they always have some information that is important to helping us do our jobs better! You’re welcome. Maybe.

{Image courtesy of Flickr user Melissa Dinwiddie via a Creative Commons license]

{Image courtesy of Flickr user Melissa Dinwiddie via a Creative Commons license]

Keep That Face Pretty!

Protecting the eyes and face is not about aesthetics – though keeping the area unblemished is certainly a bonus. There are any number of items that pose a serious risk to your face and eyes when on a worksite, from flying objects, shrapnel, sparks, bright light, electricity, chemicals and others.

We cannot emphasize enough the value of face and eye protection. However, for a while OSHA had difficulty coming up with a standard for face and eye protection because of the various industries and divergent hazards. But finally, after much research and collaboration, OSHA has finally updated a 25-year-old  standard known as ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010, with the update going into effect earlier this year.

Most worksites have varying hazards and risks where workers would be basically required to have some face and/or eye protection around chemicals or most any piece of machinery. After much work, there has been a consensus standard presented for face and eye protection that would work for shipyards, construction sites, marine terminals and for longshoremen in general, as well as in general industry.

It is expected that all face and eye protection, especially in these specific industries, should met the consensus criteria laid out in Z87.1-2010. If you have questions or need more information about this standard, you can visit this link.

Parts Are Not Parts, Says NIOSH

We hear it often when it comes to parts for our vehicles, right? We don’t always have to use parts direct from the manufacturer of our vehicles; we can often use OPM parts that another company makes to the very specifications of the original part. Lest you think this same idea can be applied to respirators for your worksite, NIOSH says not so fast.

NIOSH sent out a fact sheet recently that set the record straight on respirators that may need replacement parts. NIOSH warns in its fact sheet that using what are called “aftermarket” parts and accessories on a NIOSH-certified respirator may make the certification void, even if you use parts from the original manufacturer.

NIOSH evaluates, audits and certifies many respirators used on worksites and in emergency scenarios, but it evaluates the entire respirator assembly as originally constructed.  NIOSH does not certify individual parts, so even if you use a new part that is from the manufacturer and is the exact size, NIOSH still will need to re-certify the respirator before it can be used. Any new part of accessory essentially changes the way the respirator works and fits, according to NIOSH.

For more information, you can check out the NIOSH fact sheet for yourself.