Employee Manual 2023 - Flipbook - Page 116
Selecting the Right Footwear
As with all personal protective equipment, there are many types of work shoes available on the
market today. When using protective footwear, be sure you have the right footwear for the job.
Select footwear that fits properly to avoid tripping and stumbling. Replace worn or damaged
footwear as soon as possible.
To Keep Your Feet Injury Free…
• Be knowledgeable of job conditions before selecting footwear.
• Dirty, damaged or excessively worn shoes are unacceptable as work shoes.
• Where routine exposure to dropped, rolling, or falling objects exists, steel-toed footwear is
required.
• On construction sites and wherever routine puncture exposure exists, footwear having
puncture-resistive soles is required.
• Laceable footwear shall have laces securely tied and not trailing on the ground.
• Safety footwear shall conform to the ANSI Requirements for Personal Protection Footwear,
Z41-1991.
Hearing Conservation
What causes hearing loss?
Loss of hearing occurs in all walks of life and is due to many causes including the aging process,
diseases, injury, and exposure to loud noises for extended periods of time.
Your ears are delicate instruments. Tiny “hair cells” in the inner ear vibrate when sounds reach
them. These hair cells relay the sound to the brain through the auditory nerve. Over time, excessive
noise may cause the cells to die. Once the cells die, the auditory nerve cannot pick up the sound
and relay it to the brain.
Very simply, noise is unwanted sound.
Some of the properties of noise are intensity (or pressure), frequency, and duration. The louder the
noise, the higher its intensity. High-frequency noises are more damaging that low-frequency noises
and the longer the noise exposure, the greater the damage to hearing. Very loud noises, such as jet
engines and gunfire, can damage hearing very quickly. Other noises damage your hearing only after
you’ve been around them for long periods of time.
Noise is measured in units called "decibels". Below are examples of approximate decibel levels of
common noises:
A Quiet Room
34 decibels
Normal Conversation
60 decibels
Car Traffic
75 decibels
Wood Sanding
85 decibels
City of Plymouth Employee manual - Page 116 – March 2023
