Last updated: 1 May 2023
Safety is a crucial aspect that should never be neglected. Losing an eye or damaging your hearing can have a lasting impact on your life. I have experimented with various safety tools and gadgets over the years, and I have settled on a few that work for me. In this post, I will briefly explain each one and why I prefer it.
Respiratory Protection
The mask I use and which is the most comfortable and worked the best for me is this one made by North. It has a disposable filter. Filter costs around a dollar apiece. I usually wear one filter for about a week and then throw it out. I’ve had this mask for just over a year now and it’s still good as new. They have a lot of life to them if you take care of them. The big thing that I found with this is that it works well with safety glasses. There’s plenty of room behind the mask for my safety glasses to set.
I found with a lot of disposable masks that I’ve used in the past they don’t have that room for safety glasses. If your safety glasses end up riding up on top of the mask then you’re putting your eyes at risk because you can get something coming underneath your safety glasses. This mask worked well in that regard.
Also, this mask very comfortable because it has a head harness that sort of sits on the top of your head and then the strap just goes around the back of your neck and buckles up. And I like that too because you can take it off let it hang and put it around your neck and keep it out of the way. Had the disposables with the elastic band is hard to do that and you get to set it down and it ends up getting lost or dirty.
Eye Protection
I wear prescription glasses myself, so I got prescription safety glasses. They are more expensive than regular safety glasses obviously because there are lenses in them. But I find that it’s worth it when I put them on I can see perfectly there’s no guessing as to what I’m doing. They have kind of a rubber nose pad and rubber arm so I find that they’re quite comfortable and in a lot of ways, I find these more comfortable than the regular prescription glasses that I wear outside of the shop.
Hearing Protection
For hearing protection, I do have a set of earmuffs in my workshop. Nothing special just a set of 3M Peltor earmuffs. I’ll put those on sometimes if I’m just doing something really quick and I’m gonna be taking them back off again. But my personal preference is the foam earplugs. I’ve tried a bunch of them over the years and these are my favorite Stanley brand. They are made of low-pressure foam.
I find that they’re really comfortable to put on. To use them, you must look at the directions and roll them up kind of in a little cylinder and your fingers pull your ear up and cert them in your ear and you get the best seal that way. I can wear them for hours and my ears aren’t sore afterward. I find that especially in the summertime when you’re wearing earmuffs it just gets sweaty around your ears and this is not very comfortable. Those are my preference when it comes to ear protection.
Final Thoughts
That’s my quick take on my personal favorites for safety equipment. I’ve seen a lot of people working on-site that don’t have safety gear at all and there’s no reason for it. I mean if you choose your safety gear appropriately it can be very comfortable and it’s not worth the risk. People losing an eye and people being hard of hearing. It’s just not worth it.
Let me know in the comments below what safety gear is your favorite and why.
Related Posts:
Leave a Reply