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Before making a PPE selection among the different variants in the market, certain conditions and situations about the nature of your work and your employees’ work need to be considered. This is critical to ensure that you can select the correct variation of PPE that will give you and your employees the ideal protection.

• Sizing: Excellent fit matters when using PPE. Consider the side range available to you and how well they’ll fit the employees who need to wear them. A complete protective seal is crucial.
• Kit Weight: Some PPEs are made of different materials from others used for specialized applications. However, that could also make them heavier. Before making a PPE selection, consider the weight of the whole suit put together and think about whether your workers will be able to move and do their work for long periods while wearing the PPE.
• Workplace Hazards: What kind of dangers do you expect to find in the working area? As mentioned, different PPE have different functions. Select a kit that will give you plenty of flexibility if you expect general workplace protection. Meanwhile, if you expect your workers to work in areas with hazardous gases, choose PPE that works best against that specific hazard.
• Reputable Distributor: Many PPE types are available now, but remember that you need to check if you’re getting the real deal and not a cheap knockoff before making your PPE selection. In the case of workplace safety and protecting your employees from hazards, you do get what you pay for. Choose PPE that is made by authentic brands and distributed by reputable resellers or shops.

Making a PPE selection is more than just choosing a protective suit. Remember that your workers’ lives are at risk, and that is what the PPE should defend them against. Find quality PPE selections and more by visiting KC Supply.

When selecting a safety harness for your workplace, there are several considerations you have to make before making a purchase.

• Understand the basics of safety harnesses. 

The safety harness you select should cover the vital areas of the body. Its purpose is to shield a worker from injury from falling from great heights and keep them upright. Find harnesses that have positioned D-rings that are used to anchor a worker to lifelines. This is the most vital part and purpose of a harness.

• Understand the different types of safety harnesses. 

What kind of work does your company do? The activity will dictate the type of safety harness you need. There are:

• Fall arrest harnesses: Stops workers from falling.
• Ladder climbing: The D-ring is located in the front to facilitate workers climbing up.
• Descent control: Think of it like rock climbing—the harness is meant to help a worker safely go down from a great height.
• Confined space entry: This is a critical harness for workers entering small spaces or going into grain bins.
• Suspension/rigging harnesses: If your work involves ropes, towers, rescue, and other similar jobs involving workers getting suspended up in heights and working there, you need this one.
• Consider your workers and their comfort. 

Who among your colleagues or employees will be wearing the safety harness? Consider their convenience when wearing this harness. They will be wearing the harness for extended periods. Furthermore, comfort matters because the harness fits them correctly and won’t cause them injury should an incident occur.

• Don’t skimp out on the price. 

With a safety harness, you get what you pay for. A single harness could mean life or death for a worker wearing it. The cost of the harness reflects the superiority of the material and quality of it, and therefore it’s more reliable. Remember that you’re placing lives at stake with this harness.

Safety harnesses are critical components of workplace safety, especially in situations involving rigging and suspension. Remember to consult with specialists if you’re not sure of the correct type of harness to get. Contact KC Supply today and find out more about harnesses.

Confined space hazards are seen as a critical threat to many farmers and workers in the agricultural industry. While methods in modern farming have given rise to many conveniences and improved efficiency, especially during the harvest season, they also created the risk of confined spaces that could lead to accidents or critical situations.

Gas Hazards

Confined space is hazardous when gases are involved. In a closed-off location with no windows or adequate airflow, dangerous gases could gather and lead to a worker’s suffocation or even death. There are many different types of gases found on a farm that could pose a risk to farmers.

One gas-related confined space hazard is hydrogen sulfide, formed when manure (used for fertilizer) decomposes. Because of this, farmers need to ensure that areas that have the presence of this type of gas have adequately ventilated spaces to work in.

Dust Hazards

Another familiar danger to farmers in agriculture is dust. Dust, particularly during grain harvest, is an extraordinarily flammable or combustible substance. This dust accumulates as grain is harvested, gathered, and contained. Furthermore, the dust can be highly hazardous to the lungs, causing respiratory problems among workers.

Because of the risk, farmers need to ensure that grain storage spaces are clean and dry. Furthermore, to reduce the likelihood of respiratory damage from these confined space hazards, any workers in the area should be wearing oxygen masks and have tanks to facilitate their breathing.

Further Precautions and Reminders

It’s important to ventilate any confined space before entering the area. This eliminates the accumulation of gases or dust in the area. If possible, workers should first test the atmosphere of the confined space to check if it’s safe to work within it.

Finally, an essential precaution is communication between the workers inside the space and those outside it. This way, someone is always aware of what is going on in the space and if the worker inside needs immediate aid.

Discover more important reminders and regulations about dealing with workplace hazards by visiting KC Supply for more resources.

During the harvest season, dump pit safety comes to the forefront of concerns for people in the agriculture sector. As work will increase substantially, so does the risk around the different equipment and tools used for the harvest. Workers need to be especially vigilant around the dump pit, as accidents are more likely to happen.

• Never walk in front of the vehicle — Even if the vehicle does not appear to be in gear, if it is moving or stationary, never walk in front of it just in case.
• The driver must know where you are at all times — If you’re working around the vehicle, makes sure that the driver is aware of your presence. Dump pit safety rules require drivers and workers to be aware of each other’s presence and location.
• Use safety zones when working around vehicles — Ensure that all the workers and drivers know where the designated “safety zone” is around the dump pit. This should be the only area where employees can stand close to the large vehicle or perform a task around it.
• If there are any issues with the dumping mechanism, make sure the operator is aware — Inform the driver of the vehicle or the workers around it and stand aside while trying to determine the best way to resume flow.
• Absolutely no smoking around the dump pit — It’s critical for dump pit safety to prevent any smoking or the use of lighters and similar devices. If the dump pit is holding grain, it could be incredibly flammable and pose the risk of an explosion.
• Do not begin hoisting until instructed, do not move the vehicle until the operator signals an OK — The dump pit is a massive vehicle, and it can pose a tremendous risk to the workers around it, especially if it’s carrying a substantial amount of grain. Operator and driver must be in good contact and signal to one another before any movement with the vehicle is made.

This harvest season, enforce the dump pit safety rules to prevent accidents and minimize the hazards to workers and equipment alike. Harvest can proceed smoothly and safely.

Visit KC Supply to find more resources if you’re looking for more vital safety information and equipment during harvest season.

Grain bin accidents are one of the deadliest incidents that could happen during grain handling and processing. According to studies, six out of ten workers who fall victim to grain bin accidents don’t survive.

It’s one thing to hear about grain bin accidents and how dangerous they are; it’s a specter that could hover over an agricultural workplace. But somehow, such accidents are so much more real when you learn of the experience from someone who’d survived it.

Arick Baker’s Experience

In a story that made news even to mainstream outlets, Arick Baker has recounted the harrowing experience of being buried alive in a grain bin. He had been warned by his father, even as a child, that “if you go down in the corn, you don’t come out.”

Baker was standing in the 60,000-bushel grain bin trying to break up chunks of rotten corn that were impeding the flow of the grain. He was using a PVC pipe to do it and, fortunately, wearing an oxygen mask. As Baker’s father left him on his own, the corn gave way beneath Baker, and he fell into an air pocket in the corn that was now rapidly filling, threatening to drown him. Only his fingers were sticking out in the grain.

The Rescue

He was unable to move from the weight of the corn, and he explains that it felt like he was being squeezed from the pressure all over his body, as though thousands of snakes were strangling him. Baker was stuck in the corn for a harrowing three to four hours before someone noticed he was missing in the grain bin, and Iowa Falls Volunteer Fire Department came in. At first, they couldn’t even find him until they heard him yelling beneath the grain, with the oxygen mask slowly running out of batteries. And then they started digging.

The grain shifted five times and avalanched back down before the fire department brought the grain bin rescue tube. It turned out to be a life-saving device as it was key to finally getting Baker free. The firefighters used it as a protection against the avalanching grain while getting Baker out of the corn.

It took a few more hours of digging before Baker finally was freed, his heart pushed to the limit, and corn being surgically removed from being embedded into his skin. It was a near-death experience that no one will ever forget.

And for people who work in agriculture, it’s a cautionary tale of the dangerous risks of handling grain.

Grain bin tubes and other life-saving devices are critical when working with any kind of grain in the grain bins. Visit KC Supply and learn more about them.

During harvest season, ways to protect workers start to gain traction among agricultural businesses. And few issues are as key to the season as grain bin safety. Grain handling is considered a significantly high hazard industry where six out of every ten workers who get trapped in a grain bin don’t make it out alive. It’s imperative for industries and businesses that handle grain products to be incredibly vigilant about worker safety.

Here are some critical reminders and tips for grain bin safety:

• Alert everyone that workers will perform an activity in the grain bin. If it’s absolutely unavoidable to do work or a specific task while there is still grain in the bin, first alert everyone working on or around it about the activity.
• Protect workers through a team system. No one should be working in the grain bin alone. A team of two or more, at the very least, is best. This way, there is always someone looking out for the worker inside and listening to their movements.
• Test the air before entry. Before anyone goes into the bin or the silo, test the air for the presence of dangerous gas, combustible dust, and gases, and if there is enough oxygen in the silo for the worker to breathe comfortably.
• Provide the whole team with safety equipment. The team in and around the grain silo needs to have standard safety equipment like lifelines, boatswain chairs, and other similar lifesaving gear. Even better, have a grain bin safety tube on standby ready to protect workers entering the silo if needed.
• Check the positioning of the grain before entry. Has the grain accumulated onto one side of the silo or the bin? If so, do not enter that bin. There is a high risk of built-up grain falling in an avalanche on top of the worker, thus suffocating them.

These are just some of the critical safety reminders issued to protect workers working in and around the grain bin. Everyone must do their due diligence and ensure the safety of all workers during this season.

Need more information on how to keep workers safe in grain bins? Visit KC Supply to learn more about regulations and reminders.