If you are an employee in a hazardous occupation, you deserve to have the correct personal protective equipment (PPE). In many cases, it’s mandatory. Your employer may have to provide you with the correct equipment so that you can do your job safely. Examples include:
- Safety glasses
- No-slip shoes
- Earmuffs or earplugs
- Hardhats
- High-visibility vests
- Protective coveralls or bodysuits
- Respirators or facemasks
If you don’t have the right PPE, then your odds of injury go up significantly. A road construction worker who isn’t wearing a high-visibility vest is much more likely to be hit by a car, for example. A worker who isn’t given proper earplugs or ear muffs may not notice an impact on their hearing after just one day of work, but the cumulative impact could lead to significant hearing loss in the future.
What if your PPE isn’t good enough?
Unfortunately, even if your boss does give you the correct PPE, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be good enough for the job at hand.
One common example of this is when workers need protection from asbestos. Their boss may be tempted to give them dust masks or just tell them to wear neck gaiters that they can pull up over their mouths.
But what you actually need for asbestos is a mask with a 100 rating, such as a P-100 or an N-100 mask. Even the common N-95 mask that is often used in a hospital setting won’t be good enough for asbestos.
Workers’ comp options
Have you been injured on the job, perhaps because you were not given PPE or because you had the wrong equipment? If so, you need to know how to seek workers’ comp benefits.
