Manufacturers have spent decades improving personal protective equipment (PPE), training workers on proper use, and building safety programs designed to keep employees protected. Yet PPE compliance continues to be a challenge.
The issue is often framed as a worker behavior problem. But according to safety professionals, the reality is more complicated.
“It’s not necessarily wearing it or not wearing it,” says Richard Meyer, global training supervisor at 3M. “They’re probably wearing PPE, but they’re not wearing it 100 percent of the time.”
“Traditionally, the industry has looked at respiratory protection, head, eye and face protection, and hearing protection in a vacuum. But at the end of the day, a worker is going to be wearing multiple types of PPE while they’re doing their job.”
Richard Meyer,
Global Training Supervisor,
3M
Workers may remove a respirator to have a conversation, adjust hearing protection that has become uncomfortable, or reposition eyewear that gets in the way of other equipment. Those brief moments can create exposure to the very hazards that PPE is supposed to prevent.
Also, manufacturing workers frequently wear more than one type of protection at the same time, but when those pieces don’t work well together, compliance and protection can suffer.
“Traditionally, the industry has looked at respiratory protection, head, eye and face protection, and hearing protection in a vacuum,” Meyer says. “But at the end of the day, a worker is going to be wearing multiple types of PPE while they’re doing their job, and it’s not just for a few hours—it’s going to be for eight or 10 hours.”
That reality is the foundation of the 3M Integrated Protection Program. Rather than evaluating PPE one product at a time, the portfolio of PPE options and services may work together to help address worker needs such as comfort, fit, compatibility, communication and performance.
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5 Factors That Influence PPE Compliance and Protection
The 3M Integrated Protection Program is built to overcome five common barriers that can prevent workers from wearing PPE consistently and effectively.
Comfort
Comfort is often viewed as a convenience, but it can have a direct impact on safety. When PPE becomes uncomfortable, workers are more likely to readjust it or remove it temporarily.
“Anything they’re doing while they’re exposed to the hazard when it comes to donning and doffing subjects them to more of that hazard that we’re trying to prevent in the first place,” Meyer says.
Comfortable PPE helps reduce those interruptions, increasing the likelihood that protection remains in place throughout the shift.
Meyer shares an example: “The 3M SecureFit Pressure Diffusion Temple Technology that’s built into our eyewear has a nice flat temple that flexes and self-adjusts to the size of the wearer’s head,” he says. A similar pressure diffusion technology is featured in certain 3M SecureFit safety helmets.
Fit
Properly fitting PPE is vital to workers for two main reasons, Meyer says. First, it’s more comfortable, which improves compliance. Second, it’s more protective, because gaps are sealed to adequately reduce exposure to hazards.
The 3M Integrated Protection Program incorporates fit testing and assessments for hearing, eye, respiratory and fall protection to provide workers with the level of multifaceted protection they need for whatever their jobs require.
“The 3M Eyewear Fit System makes sure that glasses are fitting the person’s face properly and providing the right type of protection,” Meyer says, citing one example.
Read more: New Tech Improves the Way to Keep Workers Safe at Height
Compatibility
Even when individual pieces of PPE meet safety requirements, they may not function optimally when used together. 3M’s integrated approach addresses this head-on.
Meyer mentioned the company’s proprietary pressure diffusion technology earlier, which makes eyewear temples not only comfortable but also compatible with other PPE, such as earmuffs.
Another example is the suspension system in the SecureFit safety helmet, which allows the shell to be adjusted so it doesn’t interfere with a set of goggles.
The ultimate in compatible protection might be powered air-purifying respirators, Meyers says. “PAPRs integrate all that into one package,” he says, “so a worker can just grab one piece of equipment, don it, go to work, stay comfortable and stay protected.”
Communication
In noisy manufacturing environments, workers may have to remove hearing protection to listen to instructions or speak with teammates. These communication barriers can create concerns with safety and efficiency.
“If you can’t communicate with your workers or if a shop foreman can’t communicate with his leaders on a line down without having to walk away from where he’s at to go have that conversation, that can be really challenging,” Meyer says.
3M PELTOR Protective Communications is one way to integrate communication while maintaining protection.
“The PELTOR product is going to protect your hearing first,” Meyer explains, “but it’s also going to provide environmental listening microphones that allow you to have a conversation without having to take your hearing protector off, and we can integrate two-way radios or Bluetooth as well.”
Performance
Workers need PPE that protects them without creating unnecessary obstacles to performing their jobs.
Case in point: An integrated welding and respiratory protection solution—such as the 3M Speedglas Welding Helmet and Adflo PAPR combination—eliminates the need to stop to change PPE between welding and grinding tasks.
The goal is to help workers remain protected while minimizing disruptions to productivity.
Read more: 3M Safety Solutions for Welding and Grinding
Assessing PPE as a Complete System
As part of the 3M Integrated Protection Program, safety professionals take fit-testing data along with worker feedback and use that information to evaluate how the entire PPE ensemble performs.
“Really, it’s about wearing all the PPE at the same time,” Meyer says.
The program gives employers a more complete picture of how PPE functions in real-world conditions, helping them make informed decisions about equipment selection and worker-protection strategies.
“With the 3M Integrated Protection Program, we’re showing the specific value that we can offer when it’s a full system versus individual pieces,” Meyer says. “It’s a noble goal to see that we’re ensuring protection 100 percent of the time, and we know that’s not reality right now. But if we can get closer and closer to that, I think it’s a good thing.”
