PPE to Prevent Struck-by Injuries

1. A struck-by incident is when a person is struck by an object or equipment. Struck-by hazards are categorized as flying, falling, swinging, and rolling objects.

2. Proper PPE in construction typically includes hard hats, safety glasses or goggles, safety or steel toed footwear, gloves, and high visibility clothing. As struck-by incidents are caused by flying, falling, swinging, and rolling objects, what we wear can have an impact to prevent injury from these potential hazards.

3. Hard hats protect our head from overhead hazards. Low beams, pipes, overhead walkways, and material from shelving units are overhead struck-by hazards to watch out for. Correctly wearing your hard hat can help prevent injuries to these potential hazards.

4. Hard hats have an expiration date and should be replaced within five years of the manufactured date, or per manufacturer's recommendations.

5. As struck-by hazards include "flying objects", debris from entering your eyes is an example of a struck-by injury. Safety glasses or goggles are worn to prevent foreign objects from entering your eyes. To protect your eyes, wear your safety glasses properly as recommended by the manufacturer. Wearing them on top of your head is not proper use of the PPE.

6. Safety glasses and goggles can at times become scratched. Once they take a direct hit, or if the scratches are obstructing your vision, it's time to get a new pair. If you are having a difficult time seeing with your safety glasses because of fogging or comfort, it is time to discuss other options with your supervisor or safety representative to find a better fit.

7. Safety and steel toed footwear are worn to prevent items from falling onto your toes and causing injury. Having footwear that fits properly is extremely important when working on a jobsite. Wearing boots that are two sizes too big does not help in the long run and will cause an incident.

8. The right pair of gloves can be the difference of hurting your finger and losing your finger. Cut resistant gloves are an ideal choice in PPE. When working with heavy material, especially when rigging, impact resistant gloves can be beneficial in reducing crush and pinched injuries.

9. High visibility clothing can help operators and others identify when personnel are in the area, especially around a potential blind spot.

10. When working at night, adding headlamps to hard hats will assist personnel not only seeing where they're going, but let other employees know where they are as well.

11. What other PPE can help prevent injury from struck-by hazards?

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