PPE or personal protective equipment refers to wearable equipment used at work to prevent or minimize unintended damages or injuries. PPE includes equipment for the protection of eyes (glasses), mouth and nose (masks), hands (gloves), feet (protective shoes), and head (helmets) (Morgan, 2018; Parisar). Each type of PPE can provide safety against particular hazardous conditions.
Cleaning of PPE
You can dispose-off some PPE after use because they are for single use. For example, the ones used in research labs; others are not disposed of but are properly laundered, maintained, disinfected, and reused again and again. These types of PPE require proper sterilization, cleaning, and maintenance for the user’s safety. However, you need to dispose-off even reusable PPE if they are defective.
What happens if PPE hygiene is not maintained?
Although PPE is for protection and safety, it might cause certain damage to the skin. It can cause specific skin problems in different parts of the body. For example:
- Wearing helmets for a long time leads to the secretion of oil, sweat, and sebum from the hair follicles, which are mixed with the scalp, causing blockage of pores and making it easier for bacteria to colonize or might cause fungal infections.
- Skin lesions including pustules, boils, seborrheic dermatitis, and secondary fungal infection may develop as this inflammation worsens
- The gloves and protective boots worn for long times cause the reduction of sweat evaporation, making the skin prone to eczema. Also, the humidity and warmth developed are favorable for fungal reproduction, causing tinea on the feet or hands (Zhou et al., 2020).
Why should you be concerned?
Although PPE hygiene is used for people’s safety and protection. They still cause problems and completely protect the wearer from hazardous environmental components. The gloves and protective boots are frequently made of waterproof materials with restricted air permeability, such as rubber and plastic. The skin of the hands and feet loses its ability to sweat efficiently after prolonged exposure to an airtight environment. It increases the risk of impregnation, eczema, and sweat sores. Continuous and prolonged use of PPE often produces skin maceration on feet or hands. It includes softening and crumpling of the skin, and occasionally, skin cracking might occur (Long et al., 2020).
Then what we ought to do?
What if we have a way out of this problem?
Imagine you are at work in a particular industry and wearing PPE, enjoying some tropical weather somewhere, and the sweat and humidity are bothering you, but you are feeling relaxed and calm. Why? Because you have the latest and the best boot dryer in your bag, called MobilDri, a product of VersaDri.
MobilDri is a portable dryer that is convenient and versatile and helps to dry gloves, boots, or helmets in a matter of minutes. It helps to keep your hands, feet, and head dry by drying your gloves, boots, and helmet and making you feel comfortable and calm without having moisture concerns.
This portable dryer is not just a boot dryer or a glove dryer, but it is good to dry the helmet and cap. This boot dryer is good for daily after-work to dry your boots, gloves, and helmet as it consumes very little electricity.
Stop worrying about your PPE hygiene when you have a versatile option available. Don’t get late; just shop for the best portable boot dryer here conveniently.
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