my hands do this every winter

[u/Fratzenfresse]

It doesn’t hurt but it’s annoying as hell

YES I MOISTURIZE

[u/New_Vegetable_3173]

6 years ago I didn't know what PPE meant. Now it's an every day word.
We live in a very strange timeline

[u/JeshkaTheLoon → u/New_Vegetable_3173]

I couldn't imagine working in water without PPE for six years. I mean, I know it is not possible in every line of work (I know bakers are very susceptible to dermatitis, because they can't use PPE everywhere. And putting lotion on during breaks is also not really possible, because they work in direct contact with food products (kneading dough). And I don't think there's

I used to work in sewage treatment. Of course we always wore gloves, but even that of course is bad for your skin, because the sweat gets trapped, and of course you wash your hands a lot. So at every entry to the building, where of course you'd clean up well, you'd have a whole set of special soap, preventative treatment, treatment for during breaks, and for after work (they are different ones, often), complete with instruction panel what to use when (also for specific works you might do.). These were a specialised range intended for work environment.

Needless to say, my workplace was really great. The boss was a really cool young woman, and she was very keen on making work safe and also comfortable. The cleaning lady was deaf, so she arranged for sign language courses employees could take on site during work hours, for example. And she arranged for a fitness room to be added during the renovation of the facility. That one was for after work usage, of course.

But I am getting side tracked. Point is, that place made you see all the things that could be done for PPE and general works safety. Like all railings that were lower than 1 meter high had been raised to at least that height, before I started working there. This is European safety standard though, I believe. And I saw pictures of what the place looked when it was first built. Black and white pictures, and you see people just kneeling on a concrete seperating wall between treatment pools to scoop out samples. You don't want to fall in there, and for some treatments (aerobic biology) you wouldn't even be able to get out again, as you would sink down to the bottom immediately, as the added air bubbles decrease the density of the fluid in the pool. No hope of swimming.

Okay, really got sidetracked there. Stay safe!

[u/New_Vegetable_3173 → u/JeshkaTheLoon]

That was an amazing side quest story I got there, thank you for the passion.

To reassure you, I meant 6 years ago as covid and I didn't know what the acronym PPE meant. I was not wondering around without PPE, I just didn't know the overarching term for it.

Now you've described the outfit for sewage works it does sound...a bit gross. Didn't that cause spots? I knew you'd have to have a good clean after but didn't think about the process of the skin not being able to breathe DURING the shift.
And you're right that as a Baker you definitely can't put hand cream on during the shift.

On the topic of airated sewage water. I have heard somewhere that it's not usually airated enough to drown it. It's more you don't want to fall in because you'll
A. Be traumatised, as will any witnesses
B. Probably get multiple infections which could be very serious or even deadly.
But who knows, I assume it's not something people make a habit of testing.

It is AWESOME your boss let people learn sign language during work hours. I wish we learnt it at school so that Deaf people weren't isolated from the rest of society. Feels a lot more useful than learning another language because I've only met 2 people in my whole life who spoke French, German or Spanish but didn't speak English. I am of course excluding all the French folk who pretended to not know English.
On the other hand I have met many Deaf people I wish I could communicate with and couldn't.

[u/Distinct_Sir_4473 → u/New_Vegetable_3173]

Crazy I’ve never had a job where there was no PPE and it was always called that

Pre Covid I was a lifeguard and delivered pizza and worked at a gas station

Lifeguard had emergency medical equipment designed for my protection, the others had cleaning duties including bathrooms where I was provided with gloves and water proof aprons

During Covid I started a candle company where we worked with toxic fragrance oils, then a house cleaning company with industrial oven cleaner and degreasers

Now retail where there’s a chance I’ll have to clean vomit feces or blood, or caustic chemical spills

[u/New_Vegetable_3173 → u/Distinct_Sir_4473]

I've worked a lot as a bar maid. The main PPE you need is the ability to give more mouth at the customers than they give at you.

In terms of H&S my manager just told me that if there is broken glass IN the toilet or there is cocaine on the bathroom surfaces, or someone has been sick, leave that to them. Everything else you just got on with it. Even blood - as a teen /young adult I didn't know /think about the risk. If someone was bleeding I knew to apply pressure. I didn't think about PPE for myself.

Even dealing with heavy barrels and stuff I genuinely don't remember any safety training.

On reflection, I am lucky I got through all that without any injuries.

[u/Distinct_Sir_4473 → u/New_Vegetable_3173]

Yeah when you’re trained formally in first aid, they stress it constantly

After aids became an epidemic, the Red Cross started really pushing the “don’t get bodily fluids on/in you”

Starting in like, the 80’s

[u/DOGMASCHINE → u/New_Vegetable_3173]

edit: nevermind, just realized how stupid the question is. you just didn’t know the word but became familiar with it around the time of COVID. i’m dumb. i’ll leave the post up though lol

are you assuming that people didn’t use the term PPE before six years ago?? why that instead of the much more likely possibility that you just weren’t around the type of people who have a need to use it?

[u/Bazlow → u/New_Vegetable_3173]

Had you never worked 6 years ago? PPE has been a common in any kind of construction, engineering, scientific endeavor for like 50 years.

[u/New_Vegetable_3173 → u/Bazlow]

The term PPE was not used in places like bars prior to covid.