Why PPE Matters. Know the Right PPE to Keep Workers Safe This Construction Season

At Honeywell, helping to protect workers is in their DNA. For decades, they've created comprehensive safety solutions designed to help protect the lives of 500 million workers every day.

As environments change and new worker needs emerge, Honeywell’s relentless drive to innovate for a safer future has never been stronger.

In this future, safety solutions adapt to changing needs and environments. They increase productivity and efficiency, instead of getting in the way. And above all, they don’t stop working until the last worker safely clocks out.

From acquiring the most well-known safety companies in the industry to pivoting the business to help support the pandemic and everything in between, Honeywell is driven to develop and design innovative construction safety solutions that help protect all workers when and where they need it the most. 

WHY PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT MATTERS

There’s a true cost to working in the construction industry. And the numbers can be emotionally and financially devastating.

CONSTRUCTION HAZARDS AND SOLUTIONS

Worksite dangers are everywhere. Take steps to protect your people with the right PPE.

1. Hazardous noise—Operating loud construction equipment requires earplugs or earmuffs to help protect against hearing loss.
2. Hand injury—Safety gloves help protect hands from sharp objects, heavy machines, chemical and thermal hazards.
3. Extreme heat—Help protect workers from heat hazards with light-colored hard hats, anti-fog eyewear, lightweight gloves and harnesses.
4. Working at heights—Falls from heights result in 39.2% of construction worker fatalities. Lives are at risk if harnesses and other fall protection equipment aren’t worn correctly.
5. Dropped objects—Roughly, 250 workers die a year as a result of falling objects. Tool lanyards and hard hats help protect workers below.
6. Welding sparks & flash—Sparks can burn hands and arms. Welding flash can severely harm eyesight. Help keep workers safe with face shields and gloves.
7. Silica dust—Sanding and grinding may release crystalline silica dust, a serious respiratory hazard. Appropriate masks are critical.

HONEYWELL CONSTRUCTION PPE

At Honeywell, we have a comprehensive set of PPE solutions expertly designed with specific construction site hazards in mind. Falls are the #1 cause of fatalities in the industry.

FALL PROTECTION

39% of fatalities in the construction industry are a result of falls. That’s why reliable fall protection solutions are so important, and why Honeywell designs their harnesses, SRLs and anchorage systems to be comfortable, durable and easy to use.

Safety innovation lives in the details. For fall protection, that means being lighter, more breathable, and more comfortable. For example, the webbing in the Honeywell Miller® H500 harness flexes to accommodate movement and body contours, helping to maximize worker range of motion and comfort around the legs and shoulders. Not to mention the Honeywell Miller® H700 harness is 20% lighter and features up to 16% less surface area than other padding, resulting in increased airflow to keep the end user cooler and more comfortable. These ergonomic design enhancements reduce body and shoulder fatigue over the course of a long shift.

The new Honeywell Miller TurboLite™+ is now weight-rated to 420 lbs., aligned to their H-Series of harnesses.

RESPIRATORY PROTECTION

Respirable crystalline silica can be found on almost all construction sites, particularly where workers are grinding, sawing and cutting materials like concrete, stone, brick, mortar and sand.

The Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of silica dust is roughly the equivalent of a small sugar packet spread out over an entire football field. And without the proper respiratory protection, workers may not see or feel the effects now, but could end up with serious health issues later in life. That’s why OSHA mandates that employers limit workers’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica and provide the appropriate NIOSH-certified filtering respirator.

Comfort plays a large part in respiratory protection compliance: if respirators aren’t comfortable, workers won’t wear them (or wear them correctly). Honeywell’s disposable respirator solutions, like the DF300 Flatfold and DC301 Disposable Respirators, offer moisture resistance, increased breathability, and a universal design that fits most faces. Their Saf-T-Fit disposable respirators are available in three sizes as well as valve or non-valve options.

HEAD PROTECTION

Construction sites are ripe with hazards such as dropped objects, impacts and bumps to the head. Honeywell's hard hats and safety helmets provide best-in-class comfort and reliability to protect you from potential injury. Some key features include lightweight shell designs, suspension height adjustment and plush padding to ensure comfort that lasts all day to protect all day.

Honeywell's safety helmets offer a snug fit and leave peace of mind for workers at height. The full-brim designs provide increased field of vision and many of their helmet styles work in harmony with other required PPE. You’ll find slots for cap-mounted earmuffs, face shields and other compatible PPE accessories to create the best combination for protection.

EYE PROTECTION

Two major reasons for worker eye injuries include not wearing eye protection and wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job. And wearing ill-fitting safety eyewear can be just as dangerous as wearing none at all. Keeping workers safe with reliable eye protection is critical. With the growing demand for more stylish eyewear, you can also strengthen compliance with Honeywell's modern designs. There are many eye hazards on a job site, including impact hazards and dust. Honeywell's comprehensive line of eye protection includes industrial strength safety eyewear, safety goggles, face shields, welding goggles and welding shields. Their products deliver the highest levels of protection, comfort, fit, durability and style.

Honeywell’s Uvex Avatar® Safety Eyewear family provides fully adjustable safety glasses that fit today’s diverse workforce. Stylish Uvex Avatar® products offer glasses coated with Uvex HydroShield® Anti-Fog technology, which keeps glasses fog-free 90X greater than most other coatings, with anti-scratch protection built in. Since two out of three adults wear prescription eyeglasses, Avatar also offers Avatar® Over-the-Glass and Avatar® Rx (prescription frames). And for outdoor “safety sunwear,” the Uvex Hypershock® line includes polarized, mirror and Uvex HydroShield anti-fog coated lenses.

HAND PROTECTION

Working with sharp objects and heavy machinery, plus consistently repetitive motion, exposes workers’ hands to serious potential injury. Honeywell's industrial safety gloves are designed to help keep workers safe and efficient when handling all types of surfaces and components in various environments.

Honeywell offers a wide range of safety gloves that are cut-resistant and lightweight, providing top-of-the-line hand protection.

For example, Rig Dog™ Knitted and Dipped high-impact gloves provide ultimate cut resistance in three styles: Grip Plus, Water Protection and Cold Protection. The seamless machine knit allows better dexterity to handle small parts and is comfortable to wear during long shifts in tough environments.

Cut resistance, comfort and dexterity can also be found in Honeywell WorkEasy™ gloves. They’re available in all levels of cut resistance, from lowest (A/A1) to highest (F/A9). Thanks to CoreShield™ engineered yarn and CoreShield™ high-performance coating, these gloves are very light, breathable and comfortable, while also providing superior grip.

HEARING PROTECTION

Construction environments use loud machinery and tools to get the job done. While hazardous noise may not cause adverse effects immediately, exposure to it adds up cumulatively over time. Long-term hearing can be impacted by not having the right-fitting ear protection.

From innovative electronic earmuffs to connected earmuffs, Honeywell's hearing protection solutions are designed to fit and seal to the worker’s ear perfectly. For example, the VeriShield™ 100 Series passive earmuffs comfortably fit a wide range of head sizes, have wide cup openings to accommodate larger ears or hearing aids, feature a lightweight cushioned headband and memory foam ear cushions for greater comfort.

Honeywell's earplugs, like the Howard Leight MAXIMUM® and Howard Leight TrustFit®, expertly cancel noise and manage sound in acoustically challenging environments. The MAXIMUM® disposable earplug is the world’s most popular polyurethane foam earplug. The enhanced contoured shape is easy to insert and resists backing out of the ear canal. The TrustFit® Pod reusable push-in earplugs are designed with an ergonomic stem and dimpled foam tip so they’re easy to fully insert and remove, even when wearing gloves. They’re available in corded or non-corded styles.

Download Honeywell's complete Construction Safety Solutions brochure here.