What is safety equipment? Part 2

In part one we looked at gloves and eyewear. Here we will look at other types of safety equipment that are often required when dealing with cleaning chemicals.

Often forgotten is safety footwear. Proper boots or shoes should always be worn when dealing with cleaning chemicals. Firstly, they will protect the skin on your feet from accidental spills. Secondly, they should have steel toe caps and these would protect your toes should you accidentally drop anything heavy on your feet.

Overalls are a very important part of safety gear. Wearing a suitable overall is imperative. Typically a blue overall has the same protection as wearing a pair of jeans. If dealing with harsh chemicals it may be better to rather look at an acid-proof overall which is usually bottle green in colour and if dealing with flammable materials you could rather buy a flame retardant overall (these are usually fern green in colour).

Safety respiratory masks may be required in conditions where products can be harmful to lungs. This may be because the dust off a powder product could hurt the lungs or the fumes off a liquid product could create a problem.  Where safety respiratory masks are required a dust mask will not suffice. These are simply ineffective and you would be better off with a proper breathing unit.  A safety respiratory mask could be a single or double depending on requirements. Cartridges will need to be replaced from time to time and the appropriate cartridges will need to be used. Cartridges are made for different proposes so be sure you have the right type.

When dealing with cleaning chemicals these would be the most common types of safety gear. However, there may be other requirements for specific chemicals. Product information should very clearly state if other types of safety gear is required. Please follow the advice given. If there is no safety advice given with a product, always get in touch with the manufacturer to make sure about what you may require.

Please visit the Blendwell Chemicals website at www.blendwell.co.za for information on cleaning chemicals that we have in our range. Blendwell Chemicals is a manufacturer of cleaning chemicals that has a factory in Midrand South Africa.