Working in the manufacturing industry in Illinois or Indiana is extremely dangerous. It is a widespread threat: plants, factories, and facilities responsible for the production or processing of a wide variety of goods employ a great many workers here in our part of the country. Consider this: according to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), manufacturers in Indiana accounted for 26.41% of the total output in the state, employing 16.37% of the workforce in 2021.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing industry is reported as the fourth (4th) deadliest workplace in both the states of Illinois and Indiana.
For our manufacturing workers and their loved ones, it is important not only to know how great the risks of work accidents are today with the possibility of severe or deadly bodily injuries – but also how they are to be kept safe while on the job.
Warnings are especially important for those in hazardous worksites like the Illinois food processing industry. The dangers are so great for these factory workers that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has instituted a targeted program to try and help curtail accident injuries in our Illinois food processing plants. Read, OSHA Warns of Accident Dangers in Illinois’ Food Processing Industry.
Employers and others with possession, custody, or control of aspects of the manufacturing workplace have specific legal duties to do things like researching the dangers for their specific operation and implementing procedures and safeguards to minimize these risks. Housekeeping, for instance, must be prioritized to prevent things like combustible dust explosions or fires. Lockout-tagout plans have to be in place. All machinery and equipment, including vehicles like industrial trucks and cranes, must be kept in good repair and inspected before use. Safety training is a must.
However, for all plant and factory workers one of the most invaluable safety steps that employers must undertake is to make sure each individual on task in their manufacturing facility is personally protected. This is done with the manufacturing worker’s specific personal protective equipment (PPE).
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Manufacturing
Safety gear and equipment exists for all sorts of workplaces, with devices designed to protect workers from harm going back centuries. Today, there are federal regulations and industrial standards for all types of work involving personal protective equipment.
Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as “PPE”, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.
PPE works as a barrier to manufacturing industry dangers that can cause almost instantaneous tragedies in workplace accidents caused by biological, chemical, or physical dangers including electrical, mechanical, or radiological hazards. It works in two ways within the factory or plant environment.
First, PPE can protect the body in the event of an unexpected impact or force, such as a fall from a scaffold or lift or in a struck-by incident. PPE can also be vital to keep workers safe from exposure to toxins, chemicals, extreme temperatures, or materials on the worksite.
General Manufacturing Industry PPE
All factory workers should expect individual attention to detail for their PPE from those with legal duties to keep them safe. Each facility will have its own dangers. Within that worksite, each worker may face their own particular risks; not all workers will need the exact same PPE.
Generally speaking, however, most every factory or plant worker in Illinois or Indiana should expect to be required to have the following manufacturing PPE while on the job:
- Gloves
- Coveralls
- Safety Glasses or Goggles
- Headphones or Ear Plugs
- High Visibility Apparel
- Hard Hats or Safety Helmets
- Slip-Resistant Shoes
- Steel-Toed Boots.
Other manufacturing industry PPE may include:
- Respirators
- Supplied Air Systems
- Hazmat Suits
- Proximity Sensors
- Harnesses
- Fall Arrest Systems
- Flame Resistant Apparel
- Welding Helmets.
Quality and Condition of Manufacturing PPE
Not only should our factory workers and those working in our local plants and manufacturing facilities have PPE provided to them that fits their individual safety needs on the job, but they should also have PPE that is in good condition and that fits.
The ability to keep a worker safe from harm in a work accident is dependent upon the quality of each item of PPE they are wearing at the time of the incident. Shoddy, substandard items purchased at a discount may do little if anything in the event of an accident.
Likewise, PPE must be kept in good condition. It must be routinely inspected to make sure it does not need to be repaired or replaced.
Finally, PPE must be of a proper fit for the worker. This seems like common sense, but the sad reality is that there are so many employers in this country who are failing to give workers PPE that fits them that a new federal regulation is in process to require this to be done for those in the construction industry. Read, Shocking New Federal Rule for Construction Worker Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Training and Compliance with Manufacturing PPE
Workers should expect to have training provided on their particular job hazards and how their individual PPE works to help keep them safe from harm. The employer has a duty to identify all hazards on the jobsite, and to train employees accordingly. Workers should be instructed on things like when the PPE is needed; how to wear the PPE (put it on; take it off); and the proper care of their personal protective equipment.
Legal duties for worker safety also demand that use of PPE is enforced on the manufacturing jobsite. Workers should expect supervisors and others to monitor PPE use and make sure workers are protected with their personal protective equipment. Workers should also see their immediate supervisors and co-workers wearing their PPE in accordance with company safety policies.
Manufacturing Employers PPE Duties: Safety Regulations and Industrial Standards
Workers are not at the mercy of their employer’s whims. There are legal duties established by safety regulations as well as industrial safety standards that define what all manufacturing employers must do regarding personal protection equipment on their worksites.
These include federal regulations overseen by OSHA as well as industrial standards set by organizations like the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
While federal regulations carry the power of legal duties, industrial standards do not. Nevertheless, any factory worker who can show that their PPE failed to meet industrial standards at the time of a work accident may have established a failure to meet duties of safety and care in a negligence cause of action.
Manufacturing Worker Accidents and PPE Failures
Factory workers have a right to be safe at work. Employers have a legal duty to protect those employed to do things that help create revenue and profits for the manufacturing enterprise. This includes making sure that each worker is on the job with the correct personal protective equipment.
For anyone working in the manufacturing industry, there are things like the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and its General Duty Clause that help to protect them from harm, alongside federal regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations and overseen by the OSHA State Plans of Illinois and Indiana. For more, read What is the Employer’s General Duty Clause?
Anyone who suffers a catastrophic or deadly injury in a work accident at a factory, plant, or manufacturing facility, has a legal right to find out if their personal protective equipment failed to keep them safe from harm in the incident.
Failures in PPE protection may expose breaches in legal duties of care and safety not only by the employer but others in possession, custody, or control of the workplace, as well as those involved in leasing, maintenance, or care of the worksite PPE. Damages may be available under the state laws of Indiana or Illinois and in some instances, federal law may provide legal recompense.
For more, read:
- Fatal Industrial Warehouse Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Amputations in Factory Work: Severe or Deadly Manufacturing Accidents
- Factory Worker Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois
- Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs. Personal Injury Damages
- What are Legal Damages After a Work-Related Accident in Indiana or Illinois?
Manufacturing workplaces in Indiana and Illinois are very high risk and too many workers in these worksites are suffering injuries in preventable accidents. PPE is vital to keeping people safe on the job and workers need to know what they should be provided in any factory, plant, or manufacturing job. Please be careful out there!
