Personal Protectors Research Articles

Personal protectors and working behaviour of loggers

Safety measures have not always been as effective as anticipated. If workers change their behaviour, e.g. by taking more risks, the benefit of the safety improvement is lost. This phenomenon is called risk compensation. There is some indirect evidence for and against risk compensation among Finnish loggers as regards the use of personal protectors. Two studies suggest that the accident rate would have risen 3–5.5-fold if all the cases prevented by the protectors had been injurious. In Study 1 ( n = 1200) the use of personal protectors did not reduce accident injuries. In Study 2 ( n = 225), 90% of the test persons had noted that the use of personal protectors enhances the feeling of safety. Nearly half of the loggers reported that their work behaviour changed when they wore personal protectors; they became more careless, faster, bolder, and they anticipated less dangers. In Study 2, the use of protectors reduced accident injuries. This finding does not support the hypothesis of complete behavioural adaptation. The conclusion drawn on the basis of these two studies is that the change in behaviour when using protectors does not entirely nullify the protecting effect of protectors, so that the compensation could rather be partial.

Additional costs to Finnish dairy farms due to occupational safety and health

The additional costs incurred by work safety measures to dairy farms were estimated by interviewing 95 dairy farmers and inspecting with them production buildings, machines and the need for personal protective devices at a commune. The present value of the implemented safety and health improvements rose to FIM 22 000 per farm in 1983. About FIM 17000 were due to the tractors, FIM 3 000 to the cow houses and FIM 2 000 to other machines and tools than tractors. The protective equipment of tractors caused the annual maintenance cost of FIM 4 350 and cow house FIM 650, if the interest rate were 10 %. The annual total cost was over FIM 6 000. The replacement value would have been about FIM 31 000 in 1983. If all deficiences still remaining in 1983 had been corrected at once, the total cost would have been about FIM 12000 per farm, which leads to an annual cost of FIM 3 100. As for still remaining deficiencies, the study suggested need for an annual cost of about FIM 1 500 due to personal protectors. Half of this sum was due to need for the acquisition of personal safety equipment for forest work. Correcting the safety and health deficiencies of the cowshed and agricultural machines would produce each an annual cost of about FIM 800 per farm. The present value of the labor protection investments in 1983 was FIM 22 000 per farm, and there still remained need to invest an additional FIM 12000 in order to eliminate the remaining deficiencies. So, the theoretical total of the annual maintenance cost would have been FIM 6 600—9 200 per farm depending on the interest rate. Because the study concerned only one commune, the results cannot be generalized to the whole country.

The role of personal protection in the prevention of accidental injuries in logging work

Klen, T. and Väyrynen, S., 1984. The role of personal protection in the prevention of accidental injuries in logging work. Journal of Occupational Accidents, 6: 263–275. The role and behavior of loggers' personal protectors were investigated by a questionnaire mailed to 1,194 loggers. About 22% of the chain saw operators reported near-accidents which had occurred within the last year and in which some personal protector had prevented injury. If the use of protectors had been absolute, the proportion would have been 34%. Because the annual accident rate is now less than 20%, and it has not decreased very much since the introduction of protectors, it is obvious that work behavior changes when protectors are used. This phenomenon, though clear, was not verified in this study. Technically, the logger's personal protectors (a safety helmet, eye protectors, safety gloves, safety trousers, and safety boots) function very well, and few injuries occur to the areas of the body covered by protectors when they are used. Safety boots prevented the greatest number of injuries.

The protective influence of logger's safety equipment.

The effects of loggers' personal protectors and the safety equipment of chain saws were investigated with a postal questionnaire. The sample included 1,200 loggers. The main purpose of the inquiry was to collect data on accidents and near-accidents; special attention was paid to the role and behavior of protective devices in both accident and near-accident situations. Twenty-seven percent of power saw operators reported incidents (near-accidents) which had occurred within the last year and in which some personal protector or piece of safety equipment had prevented harmful mechanical contact. The workers estimated that the average absence from work due to these reported near-accidents would have been 15 workdays if the injury had not been prevented. Sixty percent of the near-accidents occurred during limbing operations, and 30% during falling. The protective equipment which most often prevented injuries was safety boots, which were followed by the safety helmet and leg protectors. The chain of the saw was stopped by the safety padding of the protective equipment in every other near-accident involving chain saws. The chain was blocked by padding material in every sixth situation . In 10% of the near-accidents, the chain perforated the protective equipment.

Need for protective clothing and equipment in small workplaces.

Some kind of protective clothing and personal safety items was needed in 90% of the 163 workplaces surveyed. Protective clothing was used in 31%, ear protectors in 28%, eye protectors in 22%, respiratory tract protectors in 18% and other safety items in 1% of the firms. Gloves were the most commonly used type of protective clothing. Protection against risks was proper in one-fourth of the firms, satisfactory in half, and poor or lacking in the rest. Ninety-five percent of the protectors available were appropriate, but only in a few companies were they properly cared for. Seven (12%) industrial firms, 15 (20%) service establishments and 1 (7%) other firm lacked proper protective clothing or safety items. Faults were generally attributed to insufficient knowledge or negligence of responsibilities on the part of the employers. Management should provide more appropriate instruction for workers in the use and, particularly, the maintenance of personal protectors. To be effective, the inspection of the appropriateness of the protectors requires suitable training. This training should also be received by the staff providing occupational health services. Visits to workplaces, as well as health examinations, provide an opportunity to discuss protection and to advise employers and employees on protection. The problems of protection against harmful exposures is closely connected with health counseling. Yet, the provision of proper protectors and the supervision of their use is still the responsibility of the employer.

Personal Eye Protectors: Performance Requirements and Testing

The performance requirements for personal eye protectors are identified and discussed under the two headings of (a) the factors that influence wearer acceptance and (b) strength. The relative importance of these two groups of factors is shown to vary with the application. Their relevance is therefore discussed in the two differing but complementary contexts of (i) intermittent and (ii) constant, day-long use. This section suggests that, for day-long use, protection should be afforded by properly fitted, optically correct spectacles glazed with lenses of allyl resin or toughened glass. This is supplemented by the additional intermittent use of high-impact protectors for special operations. The bulk of the paper is devoted to an examination of the ways in which eye protector strengths are measured. It is emphasized that testing methods should simulate real-life hazards. Clinically observed eye injuries consist of blunt trauma from large missiles and penetrating injuries from small ones. These can be conveniently simulated in the laboratory by dynamic tests using (a) a 25 m.m. (one inch) steel ball in a drop tower system and (b) a 3 m.m. (118 inch) steel ball in a ballistic system. These tests are proposed. Sample size, missile type and test procedures are also discussed in detail.