In today’s article “Safety: Face Shield, Masks, and More”, we’re talking about how personal protective equipment plays into keeping us healthier at work and in our everyday lives.
Safety: Face Shield, Masks, and More Help to Keep Us Healthier
When it comes to your safety, face shields, masks, and other pieces of personal protective equipment are one way that you can keep yourself protected from exposure to pollution, toxins, viruses, and bacterium. How does your personal protective equipment keep you safe, though?
It’s All About Particles
Whether we are working in a setting where we may be exposed to viruses or pathogens, or whether we are working in a lab where we just handle these types of materials, our personal protective equipment provides a protective barrier.
Let’s take a look at someone who works in a hospital lab where they must handle all kinds of infectious agents and harmful chemicals. Now, in the case of infectious agents that can be transmitted through aerosolized particles, face shields, and face masks both offer an added layer of protection over the face so that breathing in these particles is less likely.
A face mask with the proper caliber filter helps to filter out any potentially harmful particles within a specified size range so that you do not breathe in these particles and contract an illness yourself. It also helps to prevent breathing in harmful substances that are, for example, harmful to the respiratory system when breathed in.
A face shield, however, adds an extra layer of protection over your mask as well as extends your protection up and over the rest of your face. This is particularly helpful when it comes to respiratory droplets or other moist or splashable substances that can easily soak into a face mask. A face shield also protects the eyes. Few people know that you can actually contract illness through the eyes (although it is more uncommon than catching it through the nose or mouth.) By protecting your eyes, you are covering all of your bases. You are also protecting against any substances that could splash into your eyes – if, for example, you were working in a lab setting and pouring a solution from one container to another.
Face Coverings Pull Double Duty
It’s not only the immediate protection against infection that you benefit from when you wear face coverings, but you also protect yourself from self-contamination. For example, you may be working with a substance in a lab or aiding someone with a contagious illness, and a few moments later, your nose itches. You bring your hands up to your face and if you’re not wearing a face covering, you give a harmful substance the perfect opportunity to enter your respiratory system. With a face covering, however, you are preventing your hands from directly touching your face and protecting against self-contamination.
Safety: Face Shield, Masks, and More Help to Keep Us Healthier
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