Safety: PPE purchasing responsibility law, RSI prevention and protection
I'll do a comprehensive overview of The Little Prince craftwork soon, once i get the photos back (covering hats, masks, "wig" effects, the Fox macropuppet, and the trick parasols), but i wanted to do a quick post about a couple of notable safety issues.
First, in the most recent edition of ACTS Facts is an article of note for everyone in a workplace where personal protective equipment (such as goggles, gloves, respirators, and protective attire) is required:
EMPLOYERS MUST PAY FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
BNA-OSHR, 37(45), 11/15/07, P.1007 & 72 FR64341-64430, 11/15/07
Eight years after it was first proposed, a standard that requires employers to pay for employee personal protective equipment (PPE) has been published in the Federal Register. The standard does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before. Instead it stipulates that the employer must pay for the PPE required by current regulation, except for the following:
[Reprinted from ACTS Facts, Monona Rossol, Editor, 181 Thompson St. #23, New York, NY, 10012-2586. Email: ACTSNYC@cs.com]
The other issue i'd like to mention is repetitive strain injury, a risk that's gotten a lot of attention with respect to office workers typing on a computer all day, but which is also a threat to those of us who work with our hands on fine motor tasks.
Any time you are doing something that requires you to repeat the same motion for literally hours on end, you run the risk of this kind of injury. I first developed it working as a freelance cutter for a costume shop in Los Angeles, for which i cut out dozens of pattern pieces a day without taking regular breaks; one of my students developed it from doing ages of threadmarking.
It can be painful and debilitating, but you can educate yourself in its prevention and treatment to minimize its effect on you. I have a range of wrist braces and compression gloves (like the ones on this page) that i wear as soon as i begin to feel its effects, and the most important part of treating mine is wearing a splinted brace on the affected arm/hand/wrist as i sleep.
I found myself in the position of having to cut out twelve parasol canopies (eight pieces per canopy) in a single afternoon, and this caused my RSI to recur. A few days of working with a compression glove and wrist splint, plus sleeping in a brace, has rectified the situation. Until i developed RSI though, i never gave it much thought, so i wanted to be certain to mention it here.
First, in the most recent edition of ACTS Facts is an article of note for everyone in a workplace where personal protective equipment (such as goggles, gloves, respirators, and protective attire) is required:
EMPLOYERS MUST PAY FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
BNA-OSHR, 37(45), 11/15/07, P.1007 & 72 FR64341-64430, 11/15/07
Eight years after it was first proposed, a standard that requires employers to pay for employee personal protective equipment (PPE) has been published in the Federal Register. The standard does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before. Instead it stipulates that the employer must pay for the PPE required by current regulation, except for the following:
- Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear, including steel-toe shoes or boots, and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear if the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site.
- If the employer provides metatarsal guards but allows employee to use shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection, the employer is not required to reimburse employees for the shoes or boots.
- Logging boots.
- Everyday or ordinary clothing, such as long sleeve shirts, long pants, stret shoes, and normal work boots, or skin creams and other items used solely for protection from the weather such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, and hats.
- Lost or intentionally damaged PPE does not have to be replaced at the employer's expense.
[Reprinted from ACTS Facts, Monona Rossol, Editor, 181 Thompson St. #23, New York, NY, 10012-2586. Email: ACTSNYC@cs.com]
The other issue i'd like to mention is repetitive strain injury, a risk that's gotten a lot of attention with respect to office workers typing on a computer all day, but which is also a threat to those of us who work with our hands on fine motor tasks.
Any time you are doing something that requires you to repeat the same motion for literally hours on end, you run the risk of this kind of injury. I first developed it working as a freelance cutter for a costume shop in Los Angeles, for which i cut out dozens of pattern pieces a day without taking regular breaks; one of my students developed it from doing ages of threadmarking.
It can be painful and debilitating, but you can educate yourself in its prevention and treatment to minimize its effect on you. I have a range of wrist braces and compression gloves (like the ones on this page) that i wear as soon as i begin to feel its effects, and the most important part of treating mine is wearing a splinted brace on the affected arm/hand/wrist as i sleep.
I found myself in the position of having to cut out twelve parasol canopies (eight pieces per canopy) in a single afternoon, and this caused my RSI to recur. A few days of working with a compression glove and wrist splint, plus sleeping in a brace, has rectified the situation. Until i developed RSI though, i never gave it much thought, so i wanted to be certain to mention it here.