Handling Chemicals in Industrial Sites: The Safest PPE and Respirators

Workers must be careful when handling chemicals in industrial sites. If any hazardous chemicals were to get onto their skin, eyes, or mouth, they could cause them to develop burns, blindness, headaches, nausea, confusion, sore throat, or respiratory health problems. That is why workers must use the safest personal protection equipment and respirators to shield themselves from these dangerous chemicals.

Here are the top six PPE and respirators that all workers should have available when handling chemicals in industrial sites.

1) Respirators

Industrial chemicals emit toxic fumes and vapors that can have significant health effects on workers, especially respiratory irritation. The best way for workers to protect their mouths, throats, and lungs from these dangerous airborne elements is to breathe through respirators while they are around chemicals. 

Respirators have filters that can block out the toxic fumes and vapors from entering your airways. However, some respirators are only designed to block out airborne particles but not gases and vapors. You need to ensure that your respirators are specifically designed to block chemical vapors and organic vapors.

One great example is the NB-100V tactical gas mask and full-face respirator. This high-end respirator offers maximum protection against deadly chemicals and gases. Its reinforced heavy-duty plastic will also protect the user’s eyes and face from burns and other adverse effects. These are the kinds of masks you should supply to your workers to help them stay protected when working with hazardous chemical elements.

Please remember to replace the filters in the respirators after they change color, emit nasty smells, or produce a chemical taste in the air. Replacing the filters will ensure that the respirators continue to prevent your workers from inhaling hazardous chemical vapors.

2) Safety Goggles

One of the worst things that can happen is chemicals splashing into the eyes of your workers. Depending on the type of chemicals, these accidents can cause your workers to become temporarily or permanently blinded. That would be a real shame since it is so easy to prevent such accidents from happening.

Safety goggles are essential PPE to have readily available on your industrial site. They can protect the eyes of your workers from accidental chemical splashes so that they don’t suffer any effects from them. Alternatively, you can substitute the safety goggles with face shields if you want to offer additional protection for the entire face of your workers.

Another bonus is that safety goggles can be used in conjunction with half-face respirators. That way, your workers can enjoy eye and respiratory protection without needing full-face respirators or gas masks.

3) Chemical Protection Gloves

Chemical protection gloves are special gloves made of advanced butyl synthetic rubber and other biochemical shielding solutions to protect the hands from chemical and biological hazards. In addition to respirators and eye protection, these chemical safety gloves are the most important PPE for your workers because they protect their hands when handling chemicals.

Naturally, there is a high risk of chemicals getting onto workers’ hands when they use their hands to hold and carry chemicals. So, they need these gloves to protect their hands in every scenario where they must work with chemicals in some way. The gloves are also ideal for people in other professions to use, such as fire rescue, security, law enforcement, and disease control. 

4) Chemical Boots

Remember to protect your workers’ feet from chemical hazards, too. Even though workers primarily use their hands to handle chemicals, their feet could be exposed to them in corrosive environments where chemical elements may lie on the floor and other surfaces.

Chemical boots are the best PPE gear for shielding feet from hazardous chemical elements. These boots are made of high-quality PVC composite with advanced sole technology and anti-impact toes to ensure that feet stay protected in the most dangerous industrial environments. The advanced soles offer electrical insulation, anti-corrosion properties, water resistance, anti-puncture properties, and anti-slip properties.

You’ll never have to worry about your workers having slip-and-fall accidents in hazardous areas of your industrial site again. Just supply each worker with a pair of these incredible chemical boots to give them maximum protection for their feet.

5) Hazmat Suit

Does your industrial site have airborne chemical hazards or toxic vapors? Sometimes, only protecting the eyes, hands, feet, and airways is not enough. You may also have to supply your workers with Hazmat suits to give them full body protection against chemical and biological hazards.

Hazmat suits are made from highly durable materials, such as double-layered fabrics, reinforced seams, airtight closures, and more. If toxic or burning chemicals were to get onto any part of the suit, it would shield the person’s body from harm due to its flame-regardant features. It is a dependable barrier in environments where chemicals and flames dominate.

Hazmat suits come in medium, large, and extra-large sizes to accommodate the waist and height sizes of your various workers. They are ergonomically tailored suits to provide maximum comfort for your workers.

6) Fire Blanket

A fire blanket is PPE that can help extinguish chemical fires in industrial sites. It is made of heavy-duty, fire-resistant fiberglass cloth and offers premium protection against fires with temperatures of up to 1076℉.

When you use the fire blanket to put out a fire, it will leave no trace of chemical residue behind. It is the perfect mess-free PPE product to have on your industrial site to prevent chemical fires and shield your workers from them. 

Keep a spare fire blanket in every section of your industrial site where dangerous or combustible chemicals are handled. Due to its soft texture and compact structure, each fire blanket is easy to use on uneven surfaces.

Learn More

Would you like to learn more about the safest PPE and respirators to use when handling chemicals in industrial sites? Parcil Safety has the best supply of PPE and respirators to deploy when managing chemicals and dealing with the aftermath of a chemical-based fire or hazard.