Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Ensuring OSHA Compliance
In striving to protect your most valuable construction assets, your workforce, it sometimes seems that the greatest obstacle resides within that very asset. No matter how much attention a contractor puts into acquiring the best in PPE resources, some employees resist the basic premise of PPE requirements – That is to be effective, Personal Protection Equipment must be put to its intended usage.
When equipment designed for ear protection remains unused, there is no guard against excessive noise. When hard hats cling to hooks on the wall rather than the head of an employee, protection from flying debris is greatly limited. Respirators dangling from the neck provide no defense against vapors, chemical spills and dust. Gloves dangling from a hip pocket provide absolutely zero hand protection. And so it goes.
Supplying access to Personal Protection Equipment is not sufficient to ensure OSHA compliance. Contractors must also devise and activate a reliable means for monitoring and responding to employee safety infractions.
Responsibilities For Jobsite PPE OSHA Compliance
Responsibility for jobsite safety falls into three categories:
- Responsibilities of management
- Responsibilities of health and safety
- AND Responsibilities of employees.
The responsibilities of the health and safety department zero in on interpretation, selection and execution of PPE guidelines. Furthermore, health and safety:
- Establishes, synchronizes, carries out and sanctions the operational PPE training program
- AND Instantly brings to a standstill and rectifies non-PPE compliant behavior and activities.
Responsibilities of the employee pertain to:
- Following described PPE procedures and guidelines
- Completing required PPE training
- Use or wear the mandatory job-specific and site-specific Personal Protection Equipment
- Ensure PPE remains functional and reliable
- Straight away cease and rectify any non-compliant PPE behavior or activities
- AND report uncorrected PPE hazards to their immediate Supervisor.
Assignar Operations Management Software – Taking Charge of Employee Compliance To PPE Requirements
In the previous section, we did not zoom in on the PPE responsibilities of management. The essence of this article covers what management can do when employees do not follow PPE requirements. So first we examine the responsibilities management:
- Validate that employees are fitted and trained in the proper use, care, and disposal of PPE
- Validate that PPE, as required by the hazard assessment, is available
- Straight away halt and rectify any activities involving failed OSHA compliance.
Problem is: Monitoring, documenting and verifying workforce compliance to Personal Protection Equipment requirements requires rapid access to current data with real-time notification in the event of an active safety infraction. It also demands instant access to the guidelines, resources and compliance records developed and compiled by Health and Safety. And lastly, although of no less importance than other components of PPE, management must have some method for tacking and recording the employee components of PPE compliance.
It can get complex, and it can get complex quickly. The old way of pen-to-paper or spreadsheet data collection and data comparison is not sufficient for the problems associated with ensuring that your workforce follows PPE requirements. You need the power of a digital real-time construction operations management software application.
Enter Assignar, a cloud-based workforce and asset allocation and planning app. Construction contractors use Assignar all aspects of construction operations management, including:
- Integrated accounting
- Improved productivity
- Real-time communications
- Tracking project progress
- Implementing digital workflows
- Collecting data
- Creating documents
- AND Monitoring workplace safety activity.
Stay ahead of the program. Get documents in a timely manner. Use the Assignar document and safety management features to ensure that your workforce follows Personal Protection Equipment requirements.
