Best Safety Products of 2018

Importance of Workplace Safety Products

Workplace injuries and disasters can cost employers millions of dollars in lost productivity, fines, workers’ compensation payouts, lawsuit settlements, increases in insurance premiums, and hospital bills. Therefore, a safe workplace emphasizes uniformity in safety standards, use of safety products, and safety equipment for construction sites, trucking, loading and unloading large payloads, heavy equipment operations, manufacturing sites and factories, and agricultural environments.

Safety products are constantly being updated through innovations in materials science, design, and technology. The latest generation of worker safety clothing and equipment emphasizes durability, fire-retardant protection, chemical spill protection, facial safety (e.g. eyes, nose, mouth, and ears), and electro-shock prevention.

Worker safety clothing and equipment produces good labor practices, improves worker morale, and increases productivity. When workers are confident that they are protected and safe from the unpredictability of their environment, they are more determined to get the job done right.

General Worker Safety Products

First aid products are some of the most popularly sold items at T.A.S.C.O. Properly set up first aid kits can reduce injuries and accidents. Workers trained in first aid are able to quickly respond to accidents and apply high-quality bandages, cardiopulmonary resuscitation tools, cardiac defibrillation equipment, and medicines.

First aid kits allow construction supervisor or site managers, tradesmen, employees, and contractors to remain vigilant against accidents, injuries, and disasters. Industrial first aid kits contain eye-cleaning tools and poison response instruments.

Hazardous materials at construction sites can cause both short-term and long-term injuries and bodily damage. Short-term injuries include concussion, bleeding, coughing, choking, internal wounds, or burns to the skin. Long-term injuries can result in cancer, disability, or loss of limbs. Therefore, having a proper first aid safety kit can reduce or eliminate the risk of long-term injuries from occurring and costing your business millions of dollars.

Worker injuries due to falling from high elevations remain one of the greatest sources of permanent disability and death at many construction and factory locations. Fall protection equipment and products offer construction workers, building technicians, factory workers, and cleaners the tools they need to secure themselves in fixed locations for extended periods of time. Some of the most common fall prevention equipment includes roof anchors and tethers, confined space systems, safety lanyards, shock absorbing lanyards, retractable lanyards, safety harnesses, tie off slings, self-retracting lifelines, and safety carabiners. When purchasing fall prevention products, make sure it meets the American National Standards Institute for industrial safety equipment. Subpar equipment can quickly deteriorate in quality or increase the risk of injury due to component failure.

Worker posture and their bodily joints are essential to protect due to their repetitive use, exhaustion, and risk of injury. Head, neck, hands, feet, back, arms, kneecaps, and the feet and ankles are some of the most vulnerable areas of the body due to their exposure to the environment and their relative flexibility. Ergonomics support devices are being fully recognized more than ever for their ability to prevent back and neck injury at busy construction or work sites. Long hours of standing, bending over, or kneeling down can dramatically and negatively affect the muscular and skeletal system causing worker fatigue, pain, or inflammation. Worker fatigue and pain can reduce worker performance and awareness of their actions, thus exponentially increasing the risk of a worksite injury or disaster.

Therefore, safety equipment that is focused on providing back supports, wrist supports, knee pads, lifting gloves for the hands, and anti-puncture gloves are essential for preventing ergonomic failure or serious injury to sensitive and vital body parts.

Hard hats or construction hats are now better designed, fitted, and custom-made based upon the needs of workers. Hard hat technology has significantly improved with the use of lighter weight materials that are more durable, stronger, and resistant to weathering.

Depending on the work environment, hard hats come in many shapes, styles, configurations, and accessories. Construction work or mining operation sites may require hard hats that are significantly different in material composition, design, and safety standards from workers in factories or at agricultural facilities. Aluminum and carbon fiber composite hard hats protect against falling debris and ricocheting materials. Full brim and jumbo size hard hats can reduce facial exposure to dust, debris, and dirt during construction jobs. Welding hats can prevent high-intensity light from injury the eyes and vision by preventing sparks and molten metals from burning the face and eyes. A variety of accessories exists to improve hard hat performance, such as face shields, helmet mounted LED flashlights, helmet-mounted cameras, and eye protection goggles.

Construction and factory sites often produce high decibel sound waves and resonant frequencies that can significantly injure hearing. Therefore, all construction sites should make it a priority to have disposable and non-disposable hearing protection products available to their workers in order to reduce injuries to the ears. Hearing protection products include earplugs, earmuffs, earplug dispensers, hearing bands, earplug stations, and noise canceling headphones. In addition, a safe worksite will include decibel measuring equipment, signs, and charts in order to warn workers about the potential dangers to hearing for remaining in the worksite unprotected.

High visibility clothing and accessories are essential for helping workers remain visible and identifiable in crowded or low-light workspaces. High visibility clothing comes in both reusable and disposable coveralls depending on worksite needs. Disposable clothing may be needed in construction sites with radioactive, chemical, or biological contaminants in the environment. To maintain high visibility, safety equipment designers have developed hard hat mesh covers, reflective stickers and patches, orange pop-up safety cones, safety flags and light signaling clothing, safety triangles, neck shields, sunshades, rolls of caution tape, red danger safety tape, industrial flashlights, and fluorescent safety sticks.

Respiration and inhalation safety are essential in toxic or debris-filled atmospheric environments. Respiration equipment can prevent lungs from being exposed hazardous particles by filtering out contaminants, tars, chemicals, radioactive dust, biologically contaminated soil, pesticides, fumigants, and other materials that can cause disease, cancer, or immediate injury or death. Respirators are available as disposable respirators or oxygen tanks.