Personal Protective Equipment

After learning about the danger of working in grain bins, silos, and gravity flow wagons, I believe that it is important for everyone needs to wear personal protective equipment. However, not everyone is educated about the importance of protective equipment. For example, in the video, “Grain Bin Entrapment…Seconds to Tragedy,” four young men enter a grain bin, but did not wear any personal protective equipment (Falcon Multimedia, 2016). This equipment could have saved the lives of the two young men who died (Falcon Multimedia, 2016). A harness and lifeline system is imperative to the safety of anyone entering a grain bin (Grain Handling Safety Coalition, 2014). Not only are lifeline protection structures important, wearing respirators to prevent from breathing in harmful chemicals and mold, waring hearing, face, eye, and hand protection equipment is also important to the health and safety of the person working
The first step I would take would be to have all my employees watch the video “Grain Bin Entrapment…Seconds to Tragedy” as a training tool because the video explains the unexpected tragedy that comes when not wearing personal protective equipment (Falcon Multimedia, 2016). The second step I would take is to make a checklist that would be specialized to the work environment. If the environment is dusty, the employee would look at that protocol and follow through on the necessary steps such as using maximized ventilation in dust area and using respirators or masks (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2014). The third step I would take is to use a three-strike system. I would ensure that my employees knew the handbook/job requirements. My employees would know I am serious about wearing/using protective equipment and if caught three time without following the rules, then I would ask them to