|  | Public Health Safety | Work Safety

Safety Benefits of Long Pants

From police officers to construction crews, many professions are required to wear long pants. This rule is not in effect just because the employees like how long pants look. Long pants provide a number of safety benefits for work, play and various other activities.

  1. Riding

    • Long pants provide safety benefits for riding both horses and motorcycles. On horseback, pants protect your legs from rubbing against the saddle and from being poked, prodded or cut by any rough foliage. Wearing pants on a motorcycle makes you less likely to get burned from the hot motorcycle parts near your feet and legs. Pants also provide added protection from having your skin severely abraded if you happen to fall.

    Machinery

    • Anyone who works with machinery will be safer if they wear long pants. The machinery can include anything from the backyard lawn mower to a heavy duty shop welder; drills, saws, construction site equipment and farm implements are also included. Pants will better protect your legs from being injured from the tools and equipment since they add a layer of protection over your skin.

    Bites and Stings

    • Pants protect against bites and stings from insects and venomous creatures. One of the biggest threats that can be laid to rest by wearing pants is tick-related diseases. Ticks carry a number of diseases, including the often severe Lyme disease, but they have no chance of biting through your pants. Pants also help deter mosquitoes, which may be carrying the West Nile virus, and venomous bites or stings from snakes and scorpions.

    Hazardous Materials

    • Anyone working in hazardous environments, such as cleaning up a hazardous material spill, should wear pants. Even if the environment is not as obviously dangerous as a hazardous material spill, it can still be dangerous. Examples include cleaning up after a flood or other natural disaster or rooting through the remains of a fire. Pants protect the skin from chemical exposure as well as injury from wayward boards, nails and other sharp objects.

    Sun

    • Long pants also protect against the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Even if the temperatures are sizzling, you will be safer wearing pants if you are going to be in bright sunlight for extended lengths of time. The ill effects of UV radiation run the gamut from wrinkles to skin cancer.

Work Safety - Related Articles