Shop Safety Supplies - Professional PPE Megathread, Reference, FAQ 🧯🥽⛑️👩‍🔬🦺

[CGarage]

I have been wanting to create a thread covering this for some time. I think it will be especially interesting because safety protocol is quite different in the U.S. compared to Europe, where it is often governed by the European Union, and each individual country generally has its own occupational safety and health requirements.

This is a serious discussion on professional products covering shop safety.

I can remember back as a young man and a ‘cowboy’, and regularly machining parts without wearing safety glasses, welding without gloves, and all other sorts of bad habits that were very foolish and stupid. I repeat here — if you catch yourself falling into this trap, STOP — You are given one body and one mind to make it through life, and you need to spend the few extra seconds to look after yourself.

We want to see:

• Eye Safety

• Ear Safety

• Face Safety

• Hand Safety

• Fire Suppression

• First Aid / Medical

• Accessible storage solutions for all of this

• Post manufacturer name and product names / model numbers please

 

[RTM]

Eye Safety

I am a big fan of Bolle safety glasses, especially the frameless varieties. Super comfortable, can wear them all day on the weekends, and my head does not hate me afterwards. Almost every year a pair or two gets ordered from HJE. I try to avoid the tinted / mirrored pairs, the scratches seem to show up worse. I have clear for indoor, smoke for outdoor, and a pair of someone else’s w bifocals for fine work like soldering.

https://www.harryepstein.com/collections/bolle

• Ear Safety

While I prefer the roll your foam plugs, they aren’t practical in the grime of some jobs. I have a pair of DeciBullz that come out for concerts, or when they will be in and out of my ears a lot. Had something similar in my brewery days, fantastic for the bottling floor

https://decibullz.com/products/custom-molded-earplugs-31db-nrr

Double those up with the David Clark headphone type for jobs like running the shredder. They recently discontinued the sound deadening only ones. I have the airport ground crew green ones.

Headset Communication Systems for High-Noise Environments | David Clark Company | Worcester, MA

Headset communication systems for high-noise environments.

www.davidclarkcompany.com

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

I’ll only list the most, generally, used stuff, not going down the rabbit hole of unraveling everything.

- Eyes: Oakley M-Frame from the early ‘00s with clear and tinted poly lenses/screens & case. It’s days are numbered, sadly they have become somewhat of a ‘collectible’, when I last checked eBay for a spare pair to rob parts off it wasn’t a feasible ‘investment’ - so I will be hitting up suppliers to find a new pair.

- Face: Snap-On ‘Nightstalker’ face shield with clear screen and a #12 welding screen.

- Respirator: Dräger X-plore 3500 (P3 filters currently on it.)

- Ears: 3M Peltor Optime II

- Hands: Different type gloves from leather to fabric/ composite & Nitrile, mostly supplier (re-)brands. (Also “Glove in a bottle” type product and hand wash paste.)

- Knees: Klein Tradesman Pro hard face/ gel insert knee pads.

- Feet: S3 (EN ISO 20345) shoes and boots, that’s highly personal, doesn’t really make sense to list my choices.

- Fire prevention: Maintaining a powder extinguisher & fire blanket in a safe & easy to reach spot outside actual ‘risk area’.

- Electrical safety on site: Kopp brand PRCD-S extension, always with (Festool) PowerHub/ power distribution Systainer. Protects and also effectively prevents use of unsafe/ incorrectly wired outlets/ power sources as it won’t switch on then.

- First Aid: Maintaining a First Aid Kit in accordance with commercial/industrial standard and additional sterile eye wash, trauma bandages + Quikclot and high quality/professional shears that will actually cut. Additionally some tool boxes/kits have a couple of bandaids in them. First Aid Kit is in a Systainer as that is my #1 means of storage/transportation.

- Storage: Glasses, Face shield, Ear Protection, some Gloves are always within reach and go in one of the totes when working outside the shops. Respirator sits in a hard case and goes in the chest where I keep my work cloths, shoes, knee pads, (…). As already said, First Aid Kit is Systainer based as that is my main storage/transportation system.


Kind regards,
Olli

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

Bolle Sphere face shield
Store brand cut resistant gloves (ISO cut level "E" )

Show your new tool arrivals

Kinda like a tool and they are Snap On Brand new, 1988 vintage, politically incorrect, girly coffee cups for the shop.

www.garagejournal.com

Bolle Rush+ glasses, I have a few clear pairs and the bronze ones. The bronze are 40% VLT and are good for when it's sunny but you still want a good view of colours/texture, or when you're moving between indoors and outdoors.