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SHINE A LIGHT PPE • INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT THEIR WORKERS. WHERE INTRINSICALLY SAFE EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED, THAT MUST INCLUDE EFFECTIVE LIGHTING
INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES WITH potentially hazardous areas must protect their employees by providing a safe working environment and the personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for them to do their job. But, says Princeton Tec, many companies fail to supply important lighting tools such as headlamps. The lack of suitable lighting can lead to
throughout the plant, particularly in confined or restricted spaces. At sites with flammable gases, vapours, liquids, materials or dusts on the premises or in the air, having a headlamp that does not generate a spark is critical. However, while headlamps are part of the kit needed to minimise exposure to hazards,
serious and even deadly accidents. As a tool, headlamps are essential when hands-free lighting is required in low-light areas for a wide range of tasks, such as operating and maintaining machinery or assessing its condition. Headlamps are also necessary for safe, efficient personnel movement
they are often not included in corporate budgets for PPE. This leaves workers to buy their own headlamps from industry supply or hardware stores. If they are going for the cheapest option, those headlamps may well not be safe for use in hazardous areas and any resulting accident could open the company
HCB MONTHLY | JULY/AUGUST 2021
up to potential liability. An increasing number of industrial safety officers are beginning to realise this risk and are specifying headlamps as part of the company’s PPE budget. “It is safer for industrial plants to provide suitable headlamps upfront rather than leaving it up to employees to make their own purchases,” says Scott Colarusso, general manager and co-owner of New Jersey-based fire safety equipment supplier All Hands Fire Equipment & Training. “However, department approval of only intrinsically safe product would handle the issue. Preventing even one serious injury, fire, or explosion would pay for any implementation.” SAFE AND SHINY When companies supply intrinsically safe headlamps, which are specifically designed not to be a source of ignition in hazardous zones, workers are protected from serious, even potentially lethal accidents wherever they need to go in the plant. Essentially, everyone is covered, and the chance of mishap eliminated.
