Since the dawn of time man has had to protect himself from the slings and arrows thrown at him by his fellow man or himself, thus safety apparel was born. Man's early experimentation with safety gear was in the form of clumsy suits of armor not unlike the ones seen in films like Gladiator, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Knights of the Realm: A Dungeon Siege Tale, and Bloodrayne. Thank god our armor has evolved both on the battlefield and in the work place.
Safety apparel use to be about preventing arrows from shooting through your chest or stopping an axe from lobbing off your arm. Today man only need defined himself from his own misfortunes or the clumsiness of his compatriots but the importance of safety apparel is no less pronounced.
Countless fingers, hands, toes, and other appendages are lost every year when some macho construction worker tries to do a job without safety apparel. Countless fools are hit by cars because they are not wearing high visibility clothing. Do not become another accident statistic. Always practice safe working habits.
Also remember that is it not always an instantaneous accident that occurs. Sometimes years of neglectful behavior can have catastrophic consequences. You probably won't go deaf if you go one day without ear plugs but go a few years without them and see how you are hearing fares. The same could be said of high visibility clothing. You won't necessarily get struck by a car not wearing high visibility clothing once but make a habit of it and soon enough you will get run down in the darkness.
Another safety misconception is that as long as you use safety apparel you are safe. This is untrue. If the people working with you are not practicing safe working habits and using the right construction gear it could be you who ends up getting hurt. Inversely, could you imagine hurting someone else on account of your own recklessness and disuse of the right construction gear?
These injuries can also turn into costly legal battles with people duking it out in civil court over injuries, unions getting involved in unsafe worksites, or employees taking employers to court. You do not want and injury to turn into a legal issue so make sure safety apparel is used. Stop the problem before it starts.
Workplace injuries can be avoided with a bit of care and a lot of safety apparel.
