Hierarchy of Controls Stats and Facts

FACTS

  1. Data shows many workers suffering injury were not wearing PPE.
  2. A hierarchy of prevention and control measures where personal protective equipment should be used only as a last resort. Engineering controls and safe systems of work should be used wherever possible instead.
  3. Some employers encourage employees to use PPE without ever considering the introduction of prevention and control measures that could eliminate the use of PPE. 
  4. PPE protects only the person wearing it, whereas measures controlling the risk at source can protect everyone at the workplace.
  5. Protection is often ineffective because the PPE is not suitable, incorrectly fitted, not properly maintained, and may be used improperly.
  6. PPE is often designed for men, and for women workers this may introduce serious hazards and discomfort.
  7. PPE is also often designed without considering the reality that both male and female workers come in all shapes and sizes, that parts of the body to be protected vary considerably, that many workers wear spectacles, some have beards and stubble, and so the PPE may fail due to not fitting correctly.
  8. PPE may restrict the wearer by limiting mobility or vision, or by requiring additional weight to be carried, causing musculo-skeletal problems. 

STATS

  • Not wearing PPE can result in severe injury or death. In 2015-16 there were 144 fatalities in the workplace and some 621,000 non-fatal injuries.
  • Health and Safety Executive figures show that there are around 9,000 PPE related incidents each year.
  • According to NIOSH, approximately 2,000 U.S. workers each day have a job-related eye injury that requires medical treatment and the Department of Labor estimates that thousands of workers are blinded each year from work-related eye injuries that could have been prevented.
  •  Experts agree that nearly 100 percent of workplace eye injuries could be prevented with the use of appropriate eye protection.
  • Noncompliance with hearing protection, is real since occupational noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable when proper preventative measures are implemented. 
  • Nearly three out of five workers who experienced eye injuries were found not to be wearing eye protection at the time of the accident or were wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.