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Why do people dislike safety equipment?
Nicepoint:
I think it always begins from just the fact that most of them are a little cumbersome. That starts with not using ear protection around sound that doesn't immediately feel uncomfortable until one's hearing diminishes, which in turn increases the tolerance for loud sounds, rinse and repeat until you're half deaf.
I've worked at a lab and I can tell you that constantly wearing PPE like gloves and goggles can just be annoying, even though forgetting either just once could lead to permanent damage.
So yeah, PPE is annoying, which leads to not using it, which leads to complacency, which can even lead to a toxic work culture.
c[_]:
--- Quote from: Nicepoint on May 02, 2024, 06:27:47 AM ---So yeah, PPE is annoying, which leads to not using it, which leads to complacency, which can even lead to a toxic work culture.
--- End quote ---
Same experience with construction. Though I've never heard of people calling others out for wearing safety equipment more so not wearing them. And atleast in here on bigger sites you actually get a hefty fine for not wearing glasses and a helmet while working.
Also my hearing has regressed exactly like this. At start I couldn't be assed to fold my earmuffs on for short loud noises cause they are quite cumbersome and its just progressed to the point where I only wear them when drilling for long periods of time or when I'm listening to music. When I first realized that my hearing had become quite bad was when I got a construction student to come help me do something and I started to cut metal with an anglegrinder and the guy jumped and started holding his ears cause of the sound.
Rigel:
--- Quote from: c[_] on May 02, 2024, 09:25:00 AM ---the guy jumped and started holding his ears cause of the sound.
--- End quote ---
That's me now. My ears are pretty sensitive (to pain, my hearing isn't any better than normal) so I hope to keep them this sensitive into my old age. No reason for me to do permanent damage to my hearing for $17/hr
Ceist:
i wear my hearing protection and gloves at all times when some chuckle forgets couldn't care less. idk how my coworkers don't wear ear plugs/muffs when coupling rail cars together. that sound is devastatingly loud.
Trogtor:
not too long ago i was doing work at a warehouse installing charging stations for a robot that moves pallets around pallet shelves. these pallet shelves are probably 30 ft tall and span the size of like 4 football fields. the charging station is at the very top and we're required to 100% tie off meaning as long as we're up there our harness needs to be tied off to something at all times. we're supposed to use two harnesses and latch on one, move forward, latch on the next, go back, and latch off the other one. if you constantly have to move around this is extremely time consuming. do i do it? hell no. i would never get any work done. i just walk to the spot i wanna work to then tie off there.
this is the main problem people have with a lot of safety regulations. some of them are so damn time consuming that if you have a project that has a deadline you'll never get it done in time. as far as safety glasses and helmets and ear plugs go, yes you should wear them. that stuff is important.