Getting the Proper Emergency Equipment Stats and Facts

FACTS

1. The type of emergency equipment required to respond to an emergency, in conducting emergency procedures safely will vary depending on the type and quantities of hazardous chemicals at the workplace.

Examples of emergency equipment that may be required in your workplace include:

• over packs such as oversized drums containing leaking containers.
• absorbent material suitable for the chemical likely to be spilled.
• booms, plates and/or flexible sheeting for preventing spillage from entering drains and waterways.
• fire extinguishers.
• neutralising agents such as lime and soda ash.
• suitable pumps and hoses for removing spilled material.
• first aid kits (including antidotes for specific chemical exposures such as cyanide).
• emergency showers and eyewash stations.
• hand tools such as mops, buckets, squeegees and bins.
• suitable protective clothing and equipment to protect the safety and health of personnel involved in the cleanup.

STATS

• Despite a rise in hybrid-working, there’s still a need for every workplace to ensure they have the correct emergency equipment. With over 650,000 workplace injuries every year, regardless of the number of employees who currently work from the workplace, having the right emergency equipment is a legal requirement. But just as important, employees need to know where to find it and how to operate it.
• Workers less than 25 years of age have higher rates of occupational injuries treated in emergency departments than other age groups3, 4
• An estimated 2.4 million workers sustained work-related injuries and were treated in emergency departments during 20193
• In 2019, the rate4 of emergency department-treated, work-related injuries was estimated at 156 per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers
• Male workers accounted for approximately 64% of the work-related injuries treated in emergency departments
• The three leading causes of work-related injuries treated in an emergency department were contact with objects and equipment, overexertion and bodily reaction, and falls, slips and trips without a fall