From following the road safety rules to finding out the right vehicle with top-class safety features, we have come a long way in making ourselves safer every time we are dealing with vehicles. Yet, that’s not the case while we are working with vehicles. Working on vehicles could sometimes be as simple as checking on faulty headlights. At times, you’d need to get under the vehicle to change a flat tire.
In certain tough scenarios, you have to take care of welding work in your vehicle or investigate your vehicle’s messed up electrical work all by yourself.
Dealing with such situations requires not only an appropriate set of skills but also requires A-class safety equipment and tools that would protect you throughout while you are working with your vehicle. Yet, most of us lack proper interest and knowledge in following certain simple safety measures every time we work towards solving vehicle-related issues. Through this article, we’ll try to shed some light on some of the most important personal protective equipment and safety tools you need to put on the next time you are in the work area repairing a vehicle.
In this article:
2. Types Of Safety Equipment and Tools
- Eye Protection And Safety Glasses
- Ear Protection
- Respirators And Masks
- Face shields And Helmets
- Gloves And Knee pads
1. Fact And Figures
The most recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (motor vehicle safety regulations) Injury and Illness revealed that the automotive industry mechanics, and workers working with any sort of vehicle-related issues experienced around 3,150 nonfatal occupational injuries while working on the vehicles. Dealing with these vehicle repairs often involves working with dangerous machinery parts of the vehicle, chemicals, and tools that portray a colossal risk to the life of the person working with them.
Strain, sprains, eye injuries, chemical burns, slips and trips, and loss of a limb or digit are some of the most common yet fatal injuries that occur in the vehicle work area.
These injuries can potentially create a domino effect in the automotive industry that would depreciate the overall productivity of the workshop and auto mechanics, causing a complete downfall.
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2. Types Of Safety Equipment and Tools
Through this article, we’ll look at the range of safety equipment and tools to use in order to meet safety requirements for each specific operation and protect ourselves from any sort of mishaps while in the work area and dealing with vehicle repair.
Eye Protection And Safety Glasses
No matter what the cause is, getting something into our eyes is an annoying experience. Certain foreign particles are life-threatening to us and carry the potential to damage our eyes permanently. The chances of any sort of unwanted or harmful particle landing in our eyes while working on our vehicle are fairly higher than we could ever imagine. Hence, it is essential for us to find the right set of eye protection and safety glasses in order to keep our eyes safe during our work process with the vehicle.
While looking for eye protection and safety glasses, it is necessary to find one that’s completely comforting to wear, fits into your head size properly and serves the purpose of protecting your eyes right. Look for the ones that have complete built-in ventilation with proper safety standard, the one that diminishes the effect of fog and allows proper aeration without letting the irritants get into your eyes.
Ear Protection
The loud thudding noise at your vehicle’s workshop is a very common phenomenon. However, certain sounds would leave your ears numb, giving a very unpleasant experience. Work areas and places could pose two distinct threats to our ears: damage from long-term exposure and instantaneous damage. Hence, undergoing the right hazard assessment and selecting the best ear protector while working on a vehicle is a must.
There are different ear protectors offering appropriate safety standards that serve different purposes from normal earmuffs, earplugs, and helmet-mounted earmuffs to custom molded earplugs, active noise protectors, and many more that meet the safety requirements. There has been a lot of advancement in this field. So choose the one that serves your purpose rightly.
Respirators And Masks
Respirators and masks play a vital role at your vehicle’s workshop. From protecting the workers from harmful chemical fumes to ensuring proper ventilation while wearing one, a pair of good respirators and masks are always as essential as any other safety equipment or tool while you are working with your vehicle. Respiratory protection equipment is a must for all auto mechanics when using isocyanate-containing paints to paint your vehicle.
Pro Tip: many workers believe that it’s safe to remove their respirators and masks as soon as they are finished spraying. However, the air still contains large quantities of paint mist that are still invisible to the naked eye. Hence, it is advisable to keep it on at all times when exposure is possible near the surroundings of the vehicle and work area.
Face shields And Helmets
Face shields and helmets are designed in a way to protect the worker’s face and head, respectively. Face shields depending upon the type are used to protect the workers from physical hazards, harmful radiations, chemical fumes or splashes, etc. Helmets being the hard hats over the heads, on the other hand, protect the worker’s head from any sort of damage that could be caused when a heavy element falls on your head during the work process.
When working under the vehicle with your entire body under it, it is recommended to put on your helmet first and then carry on with the work process.
Gloves And Knee pads
Gloves and knee pads might seem less important while working in the automotive industry initially. However, if ignored, they may lead to a painful experience. Our hands are as important as any other organ in our body. Eventually, a lot of work that has to be accomplished while working on a vehicle is done by our hands. Hence, it is very much necessary for the workers to protect themselves from any sort of injury. Using a pair of gloves before you pick up any work is a must.
The knees being a sensitive part of our body require equal attention too. If you’re on your knees without a knee pad for a prolonged period, there are high chances for tendinitis to occur. Also, there are chances of developing pica syndrome where the ligaments usually become unnaturally folded, and the rubbery meniscus cushion that protects knee joints tears and breaks down, leaving chronic pain behind as the result.
Knowing vehicle and work area safety is not enough, practice it! Now that you are completely aware of the ABCs to XYZ you need to follow them the next time you are working on your automobile do a proper risk assessment apart from hazard assessment. It is very much essential to spread the same personal protective equipment and safety awareness among auto mechanics and workers because, at the end of the day, all that matters is our safety.
