Jennifer Yario

Personal protective equipment is “all about the individualized fit,” says Stacy Turner, category manager – safety, for Kimberly-Clark Professional in Irving, TX.

March is National Ladder Safety Month. What, at the core, is ladder safety? “Ladder safety is based on selecting the correct ladder for the job and using it as instructed by the on-product labels,” said Mike Van Bree, vice president of the Chicago-based American Ladder Institute and director of product safety and engineering at Louisville Ladder in Louisville, KY.

“Light is what makes just about every other tool and process work to its maximum potential,” says Scott Field, director of industrial/public safety sales at Coast Products in Portland, OR. “Safety measures, protocols and equipment are well-defined in the workplace context because regulatory standards demand this.

In today’s world, “you might see a person wearing his or her FR uniform off the jobsite and not even realize they’re wearing FR workwear,” says Michael Batson, director of product development for True North Gear. This is because “both garment function and fashion are being elevated at the same time.”

According to NIOSH, 26 million workers are hearing-impaired – and 24% of these cases can be attributed to on-the-job noise. This is why “we continue to hear from employees having some degree of hearing impairment that they need devices that enable them to hear critical sounds and communications while diminishing the risk of a noise-induced hearing loss,” says Garry G. Gordon, M.S., audiologist and CEO of E.A.R. Inc.

“Safety first.” That’s what Andy Reichlin, national sales manager – industrial for Warminster, PA-based ThermOmegaTech, had to say when asked what advice he provides to customers regarding eyewashes and showers.

“’Pink it and shrink it’ isn’t working” when it comes to personal protective equipment and clothing for women, Sara De Luca, co-founder of Dovetail Workwear, contends.

What do employers and workers need to know about facility safety? For Michael Riccio, global marketing manager for IRISS, a manufacturer of electrical maintenance safety devices and reliability technologies, “Both sides of the equation need to better understand that safety is everyone’s responsibility.

The right fit. Ensuring stability. Protection from pain. Ergonomic elements. These are just some of the elements that need to be considered when selecting foot protection for workers.