FACTS

1. Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is critical to successfully working in many high-risk work environments. In some cases, PPE stands as the only control for specific hazards. 
2. There are many ways to be injured on a normal worksite, and forgoing personal protective equipment (PPE) is allowing for substantial risk of harm. Damage can occur to the body in several ways, including respiratory distress, accidental ingestion, and what gets absorbed or injected into the skin. 
3. Some hazards may be controlled by eliminating them at the source through engineering and administrative controls, but personal protective equipment (PPE) is a crucial safety precaution often used in combination with other controls. When those controls can’t eliminate the hazard, personal protective equipment (PPE) can provide acceptable protection within its capabilities and limitations. 
4. PPE doesn’t eliminate hazards; it just minimizes exposure. 
5. PPE should be viewed as the “last line of defense” in protecting you from workplace hazards. Wearing the PPE provided by a company is the last thing a worker can do to keep themselves on the job and out of harm’s way. 

STATS

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in one period of observation, hard hats were worn by only 16% of workers who sustained head injuries, although 40% were required to wear them for certain tasks at specific locations. 
• Only 1% of approximately 770 workers who suffered face injuries were wearing face protection. 
• 23% of the workers with foot injuries wore safety shoes or boots. 
• About 40% of the workers with eye injuries wore eye protective equipment. A majority of these workers were injured while performing their normal jobs at regular worksites.
• About 60% of workers use PPE during work. Main reasons for non-use are discomfort, lack of knowledge on how to use it and poor fit. 
• Each day, an estimated 2,000 workers suffer eye injuries on the job, which not only robs many of them of their sight, but also costs employers and insurance companies millions of dollars a year. These injuries incur more than $924 million annually in workers’ compensation, and nearly $4 billion in wage and productivity losses, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).