Summary:

• Workers used to wear locally made raincoats, which are not acid-resistant and were often injured with acid burns.
  
• DuPont protective clothing can be credited for an increase in production & improved worker safety.

Challenges:

Working as a Lean Supervisor, I am responsible for lean and economical production. The job also includes safety in all forms – such as on-site safety management, worker protection, equipment operation, and maintenance, among other things. The main risks on our shopfloor are mechanical injuries and corrosion of specific hazardous chemicals.

We have struggled with the pickling position due to difficulty in recruiting workers in a risky work environment. The employee attrition rate for this position remains high due to which the production capacity has not increased. In the preceding years, we tried multiple interventions to increase productivity including improving pickling equipment. Unfortunately, we failed to solve the concern of personal protection.

Workers used to wear locally made raincoats to rinse acid from the tanks. Performing physical activity in a constricted space was tough but getting acid burns was more dangerous! These raincoats were not acid-resistant at all and caused minor to severe acid burns to the workforce, which led to high employee turnover. Over the years, we tried many garments of various brands, but all of them were unreliable and did not provide adequate protection.

Solution:

In 2018, I discovered DuPont's chemical protective garment (Tychem® 6000). The suit was incredible and perfectly met our maintenance requirements. The chemical protection offered by DuPont™ Tychem® 6000 was outstanding, and we are truly grateful that we gave it a try.

DuPont PPE scores over other protective clothing on all fronts – be it safety, or comfort.

DuPont garments are lighter and quite easy to wear. They are not as heavy as other protective clothing. Our workforce enters the tank to rinse acid, and due to the limited space of the tank, the movements are quite restricted. The lightweight comfort and dexterity of movement provided by DuPont™ Tychem® PPE are highly beneficial and make a difficult task easy!

For the first time in many years, we have retained people due to the outstanding protection offered by DuPont™ Tychem 6000, and our production capacity has been stabilized. DuPont protective clothing can be credited for an increase in production & improved worker safety.

Impressed with the chemical protection, we started using DuPont cut-resistant gloves as well. Earlier we had tried other yarn and leather gloves, but they resulted in hand injuries. We purchased gloves made with Kevlar® according to the size of the worker's hand, to ensure safety, comfort & flexibility. DuPont cut-resistant gloves made with Kevlar® are much more fit, comfortable, and flexible. With other gloves, we consumed one pair of gloves per day per worker. Thankfully, gloves made with Kevlar® are much more durable and one pair can be used for one month without any wear or tear, or compromising on hand safety!

In our line of work, both chemical corrosion and mechanical damage cause serious injuries. After using it ourselves in multiple high-risk environments and situations, we trust only DuPont protective equipment to keep our workers safe.