Why Wear Protective Clothing

Safety gear requirements are becoming more and more common, especially for students. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that more than 90 percent of school districts require students to wear protected gear for during metal shop, wood shop or science class. Similar restrictions are imposed in a number of professions, including dental assistants, photo lab specialists, and others. If you understand why the law requires us to wear safety clothing, these laws seem less intrusive.

Biological Warfare

• In addition to self containing breathing apparatus (SCBA), the CDC recommends the use of booties, gloves and protective clothing when responding to suspected acts of biological terrorism.

  This protective clothing prevent skin exposure to potentially lethal infectious agents such as anthrax. SCBA prevents you from inhaling agents that could otherwise kill you.

Work Injuries

• The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tallies the total numbers of specific work-related injuries. They report that 70 percent of the 320,000 workers experiencing hand injuries were not wearing gloves.

  The OSHA report goes on to states that "hand injuries to the remaining 30% of the workers who were wearing gloves were caused by the gloves being either inadequate, damaged, or the wrong type for the type of hazard present."

  Broken bones, lacerations and chemical burns are just a few of the injuries to hands that could have been prevented if protective clothing was worn appropriately.

Lead barriers

• Wearing lead aprons protects patients and medical technicians against radiations injuries. Such protection extends to veterinary medicine. A 2005 study performed at Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University showed that a lead apron significantly minimizes radiation exposure when performing simple imaging studies on horses.

  Radiation exposure is closely associated with hemophilia and other cancers. Minimizing radiation exposure by using lead aprons saves lives.

Sports Injuries

• Reports from the University of Virginia Heath System, speak to the millions of avoidable sports accidents is kids under fourteen. Many of these injuries could have been minimized or prevented altogether if the child had worn appropriate safety gear.

  If you want to find out what protective clothing is appropriate for a particular sport, check out the CDC: Gear Up! web page.

Bike Helmets

• Bike helmets prevent serious head trauma.

  The CDC reports that "head injury accounts for approximately 44 percent of all deaths resulting from injury in the United States and approximately 7percent of brain injuries are bicycle-related. Among survivors of nonfatal head injuries, the effects of the injury can be profound, disabling, and long lasting."

  According to the CDC symptoms associated with minor head injures include "headache, dizziness, reduced memory, increased irritability, fatigue, inability to concentrate, and emotional instability."

  Avoiding these injuries is a good reason to wear protective clothing.