Lesson 3: Safety and What to Wear

What you wear on the job is important for your safety. You need to wear clothing that will protect your body. Let us look at some things you should do (DO’s) and some things you should not do (DON’Ts) with regard to what you wear:

A.)  DO’s:

1. Wear safety glasses or other eyes protection to preserve your only pair of valuable eyes. Here are some of the protective things you can wear for your eyes:
2. Wear heavy, closed-toe, closed-heel shoes to protect your feet. This will prevent injury if you or someone else drops a large metal part, tool, or container on your foot. The best thing is to wear safety shoes or boots with strong, metal toes.
3. Wear short-sleeve shirts; the sleeves will not get caught in any of the machines.
4. Wear gloves and a face shield, if you’re working with hot things, or if you’re welding. For other jobs, don’t wear gloves.
5. If you have long hair, secure it behind your head with a hair net, a hat or a head band, or tie it up and back.
6. Wear long pants and a protective shop apron to protect your legs and body.
7. Wear a face mask or a respirator to protect yourself from breathing small particles of dust, paint or chemicals, if they are in the air from grinding, painting, or spraying. A respitator that fits around your face tightly offers you more protection. You may need to protect yourself from these particles made by other machinists who work near you.
8. Protect your hearing by wearing ear plugs or ear muffs that will keep out the many noises made by the cutting and grinding of metal.

B.) DON’Ts:

1. Don’t wear sandals, huaraches, cloth running shoes, high heels, or any open-toed shoes. Protect your feet.
2. Don’t wear gloves when operating machines. Without gloves, you will be better able to turn switches on and off, adjust parts of the machines, and make more accurate measurements.
3. Don’t wear jewelry like rings, bracelets, or watches. Also, don’t wear scarves or neckties; things like this can easily get caught in the moving parts of the machine.