PPE that is vital to keep your restaurant staff safe

Providing staff with the proper restaurant equipment and supplies is so important if you want to ensure the well-being and safety of employees. More specifically, restaurants, hotels and just about every other place of business requires some degree of PPE (personal protective equipment) to reduce the risk of injury and keep workers as protected as possible from potential hazards.

Common injuries experienced by employees in commercial kitchens include burns, cuts and sprains. For affordable, durable PPE browse through L&A Safety's catalogs or visit one of their branches in Milnerton, Vredenburg or Robertson.

Restaurant supplies that can help safeguard staff from unnecessary injury are:

GLOVES:

  §  Dishwashing gloves
Help protect the workers hands from hot water, as well as from abrasive chemicals that may be used in soaps and sanitizers.

  §  Cut-resistant gloves Made from special, strong materials that help prevent skin from being accidentally cut or sliced by a sharp knife.

  §  Freezer gloves
Insulated gloves with good grip designed to shield hands from frostbite, which can be a potential problem when spending a lot of time in freezers or walk in refrigeration storage units.

OVEN MITTS:

Prevents burns and are primarily used for placing and removing hot items from ovens, handling hot plates or dealing with other hot food or restaurant equipment.

APRONS:

Not only does this PPE keep a worker’s uniform clean, but it also provides an additional barrier between the employee’s body and dangerous substances like hot grease and oil.

ANTI-SLIP SHOES:

The floors in a kitchen are often slippery due to water and grease spills. Wearing safety footwear helps provide employees with better grip, which assists in the prevention of slipping and falling.

It is essential that your staff is educated on the importance of using safety gear and the proper methods to use it.

3 factors to help you understand and select firefighter gloves

Of all the clothing items worn by firefighters, perhaps the most misunderstood items are the gloves. Among garments, footwear and helmets, they are considered the throwaway item of the protective ensemble and are often given little consideration in their purchase.  

But hand protection during firefighting is so important! Burns and other injuries to the hand, though lessened over the years, still represent a significant proportion of all injuries. Where there are complaints about the different elements of the protective ensemble, often gloves top the list. Complaints include them being too bulky or too restrictive on hand movements. 

Hand protection challenge:

Protecting firefighters' hands from hazards is actually a relatively difficult challenge. This, combined with our reliance for working with our hands in a variety of tasks during firefighting, imposes tough trade-offs for permitting hand function while providing insulation from heat and protection from physical hazards.

Make sure you have the best gloves for the job – contact L&A Safety today!

In contrast, protecting the other parts of the body — such as torso, arms, legs and feet — with other items of clothing is significantly easier. To gain good protection, hand function and hand comfort is often reduced. This challenge has focused the glove industry to be creative with its selection of materials and development of designs.

Material selection:

Gloves use the same principles of layering materials as applied to garments. Firefighting gloves employ the same functional three-layer construction as turnout gear. For gloves, there is a shell, which may be either leather or textile. Inside the shell is a moisture barrier or barrier layer that may be separate or combined with a thermal lining.

All layers must work together to provide protection to the hands. However, in the selection of these layers there are trade-offs that dictate the use of certain materials to limit the reduction of firefighter dexterity, grip, and tactility.

Design considerations:

As great an impact as the selection of materials might be for glove function, glove design cannot be overlooked. There are several different ways that gloves can be constructed that relate to the way the fingers and thumb are set in the glove pattern. Seam location is critical in affecting hand function because inappropriately placed seams can cause poor fit and hand function.

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For a wide range of PPE, L&A Safety is your one-stop shop! Whether it be boiler suits, safety goggles, gumboots or hard hats - L&A Safety has it all.

The dangers of welding

Some health and safety welding regulations, such as; keeping clear of the fumes while gas welding, not to breathe the fumes and to ensure enough ventilation seem to be common sense, yet according to the Welding Information Centre there are on average 365 000 welding related injuries per year!

Such injuries include hot metal slag burns, injuries from flying particles, radiation exposure or exposure to fumes, vapours or chemicals.

Arc welding and cutting processes, as well as other forms of welding, produce radiation. The quantity of radiation could be small, but in some cases ultraviolet or infrared radiation can go undetected. Such radiation can cause eye damage or skin burns.

It is therefore necessary to use a welding helmet with the correct shade of filter plate, gloves and the correct clothing. For a wide range of safety equipment and clothing, including safety gear for welding – contact L&A Safety today and place your order!

Screen curtains can be used to protect other people in the vicinity. Safety glasses should have UV protective side shields. In addition, noise caused by welding can be hazardous, with temporary or permanent loss of hearing occurring. Ear muffs or ear plugs can be used as protection.

Electric shock from welding and cutting equipment is another danger that can result in injury or even death. When welding there are various components that are electrically energised, such as the welding circuit, the internal circuits, the reel of wire or the drive rolls.

Incorrectly installed equipment or equipment which has not been properly grounded is normally the cause of electrical shocks during welding. To avoid electrical shock it is important to follow the instruction of the equipment in use.

Employees should be trained on how to avoid electrical injuries. Principles such as not touching live electrical parts, having installations and maintenance done by qualified people, having the equipment grounded at all times and frequently inspecting power cords for open wires should be adhered to.

When conditions are less than perfect it is important not to work alone, wear insulating gloves and rubber soled boots, while making use of mats and insulated electrode holders. Of course, water should be avoided under all circumstances.

7 helpful tips for encouraging PPE compliance

PPE only works if you use it!

Whether you work in the electrical, oil or manufacturing industry, there are always challenges when it comes to personal protective equipment compliance. Creating a safe work environment is critical, so use these 7 helpful tips to encourage PPE compliance…

1. Establish and enforce a policy requiring the use of the assigned PPE. Make sure all employees are aware of the rules and the consequences if they break them.

2. Take about PPE when appropriate in safety meetings. Identify hazards and explain how specific PPE is designed to protect against them.

3. Ask employees to give their personal reasons for wearing PPE. For example, getting home safe and sound to their families, avoiding injury and because it’s simply the smart thing to do.

4. Ask for employee input concerning PPE. Listen to complaints and reasons for not complying.

5. Post signs indicating what PPE is needed in each work area.

6. Provide statistics and descriptions of accidents that have occurred in the workplace because workers weren’t wearing PPE.

7. Make sure supervisors monitor PPE use daily among all their employees and don’t overlook noncompliance for any reason.

What other strategies would you use to encourage PPE compliance? 

Contact L&A Safety for a wide range of PPE and other safety equipment. From hard hats to boiler suits and respirators - L&A Safety has it all!