Personal Protective Equipment

Personal Protective Equipment

Introduction.

Personal protective equipment, rather known as PPE, is a protective outfit or garment designed to protect the person wearing it from any occupational injury that may occur. The type of hazards that the protective equipment may protect include biohazards, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, or even airborne hazards. The primary purpose of the protective equipment is to reduce levels of employee exposure to any occupational hazards that might occur during the execution of an organization’s operations. According to Cheek (2020), the PPE acts as a barrier between the body of the employee and the professional environment. Research shows that a properly designed protective equipment can not only ensure the safest working condition of an employee but also lasts long for a couple of years. Whereas personal protective equipment minimizes significant levels of injury, there is a need to use the ADDIE model to design a training module on personal protective equipment (PPE).

Analysis

To make sure employees’ safety is on the maximum level, there is a need to look deeper into some analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation techniques. According to Cornwell (2018), there is a need for the organization to analyze personal protective equipment. The need analysis should be conducted to discover requirements for PPE. The employees should collaboratively participate in the exercise, thus helping in identifying appropriate personal protective equipment. Those employees that have received no training on this should be educated and given instruction manuals. Further, essential skills are supposed to be instilled in every employee as a fairness measure in the organization. Qualitative and quantitative techniques need to be applied during this period of analysis (Eggleston, 2019). Some of the questions that the study is supposed to address include: why is the training necessary? When is PPE appropriate? How do you put PPE on and take it off? What are the drawbacks of the protective equipment, and lastly, which is the proper way to dispose of the PPE? After finishing with analysis, personal protective gear needs to be designed in a safe manner (Gloves, 2019). The PPE should be constructed safely and regularly maintained cleanly. No sooner should the PPE be kept in its specific storage space that we will see a reduction in dangerous exposure or incidences of disasters. Not only will this ensure effectiveness but also ensure there is conducive occupational health safety.

Design, development, and Implementation

The next aspect is the transformation of the training goals to performance in regards to personal protective equipment. Proctor (2017) states that there is a need to plan and prepare for any occupational hazard that may occur in the line of duty. Engineers need to develop protective equipment that lasts longer than any hierarchy control. While personal protective equipment is of great utility, it is usually not the most preferred mechanism in terms of occupational health safety.  Several concerns need to be addressed to ensure proper recommendations are implemented effectively in the organization. Different health setting has low capacities, thus increasing the probability of facing challenges while implementing recommendations of adequate protective equipment. While this process may prove to be a problem in occupational health safety, there are established procedures and protocols that should be used as a priority (Proctor, 2017). According to, it is very crucial to follow technical guidelines and quality specifications on the instruction manual when procuring the purchase of personal protective equipment.

Moreover, administrative, engineering, and environmental controls should be implemented. Some of the regulatory controls include mandatory training, supportive supervision, management of resources, and protocols to follow in reporting a breach in protective equipment material (Cornwell, 2018). Engineering and environmental controls include the management of disposable PPE material, sufficient water, and disinfectants. All in all, different sizes and shapes of personal protective equipment should be easily accessible to all employees of an organization.

Evaluation

Once implementation is complete, the next step is to conduct an assessment. Assessment is a very crucial step that assesses whether the employees have benefitted from the delivery of adequate personal protective equipment. The program development team should explain the evaluation process for all employees within the organization. Prost (2018) suggests that this will not only help significantly in getting employee feedback on the personal protective equipment but also will be useful in program improvement. The evaluation process should be used to find out essential questions on personal protective equipment in occupational health safety. For example, did the assessment help? Were there any skills learned by the employees? Did the evaluation affect the organization positively or negatively? Once these questions are addressed, then an evaluation report should be prepared to summarize all evaluations and objectives. In conclusion, a well-executed program of safe personal protective equipment within an organization should be easy to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate (Prost, 2018). The implementation and evaluation of adequate PPE will prove to be quite resourceful in ensuring occupational health safety among different employees in organizations all over the world.

References

Cornwell, A. (2018). Developing ADDIE Essentials: Personal protective equipment and first aid.

Cheek, L. (2020). Implementation of personal protective clothing and equipment.

Davis, J. (2017). Personal protective equipment for employees.

Eggleston, P. (2019). Recent developments in personal protective clothing and equipment.

Gloves, C. (2019). Technology status evaluation: Personal protective equipment.

Proctor, T. (2017). Survey of personal protective equipment in organizations.

Prost, K. (2018). Strategy and tactics for pilot implementation of the ADDIE model in personal protective equipment.