Safety Equipment for Heavy Equipment Operators

Hard Hats / Safety Helmets

You may find yourself working on a construction site or in a warehouse and you need to protect your head from falling of debris, collision impact, and other hazards. It will be required to wear head protection. The hard hat is a resilient kind of PPE.

When you’re buying a hard hat, find the one meet or exceed a certain safety standard. Find the one you’re comfortable to wear and some types offer adjustable personalized fit. Consider also the one that has slots for the additional accessory to fit. In some cases, you will need those accessories such as the hearing and face protection and they have to be easily fitted to your hard hat.

Nowadays, the hard hats are made of newer and lighter materials that have added benefits for the comfort of the worker. ABS plastic materials exceed the ANSI standard and offer durable yet light-weight for added comfort. Common types of hard hats have a shell made of high-density polyethylene materials.

Safety Boots / Shoes

Safety boots are the basic PPE you will be required to have as an operator even when you’re working indoor or outdoor. Having the right safety boots is essential if you want to climax your job performance and be safe at what you do.

When you’re buying for safety shoes, choose the one that claims meeting the safety standards. Have you listened to others saying that they’ve been “on their feet all day”? Well, this is because our feet do take the most work in the course of an average day at the job. When you’re buying for steel-toed safety shoes, find that one that has a good comfort and fit.

For example, if your foot length is 9.85 inches, usually you need to add 0.4 inch in front and 0.4 inch in back, so you need at least 9.85 + 0.4 +0.4 = 10.65 inches safety boots. You should consider the US size 8 or the EURO size 41 which is 10.76 inches.

Safety Glasses / Goggles

The proper eye protection is important for operators who work in the construction and manufacturing industries.

The safety glasses are a crucial piece of PPE that protect the eyes. This PPE is made of a shatterproof type of plastic material that protects the eyes from debris. And depending on the type of environment you are working in, you could wear clear and dark ones.

When you’re buying for safety glasses, you need to choose the one that meets safety standards and specifications, just like any other PPEs.

You need also to consider the type of safety glasses that provides good peripheral vision. You may choose the one that has transparent side shields to offer a better field of vision.

You may choose the safety glasses with lens that are made of polycarbonate materials that give resistance to impact. If you can find the one that has telescoping and ratcheting temples so that you’ll be able to adjust for comfortable fit.
Some type of glasses you can buy has vented lens that allows air to flow through to prevent inside fogging and with adjustable nose pad for only for a comfortable fit for the different range of bridge sizes.

Avoid the one that one-size-fits-all type. Usually, this kind of safety glasses doesn’t fit you at all.

Safety Vests

Safety vest is one of the safety gears you need to have while working with a heavy equipment that’s because safety vest makes you more visible and noticeable especially when you’re working in a poorly-lit warehouse or at night.

If you don’t have your vest yet, then it is time for you buy one.

Today’s safety vest is lighter and more reflective and with good reason, you need to be more noticeable and perceptible by other workers or drivers in a dimly-lit environment.

The materials the safety vests are made of is polyester and commonly neon or fluorescent yellow. Safety vest usually comes with several front pockets (about 7-9) for easy storage of small things. ANSI-compliant (SEA 107-2015 Class 2 / Level 2 standards) safety vest are large available now on the market.

When you’re buying for safety vest, find the correct fit for good performance. Some manufacturers offer size charts available in both inches and centimeter so that you can accurately find the right size for you. You can use your shirt size as a reference when you don’t know what size fits you.

Safety Gloves


Nothing beats a pair of good and tight safety gloves.

Pair of good safety gloves can certainly help minimize the stress on your hands by providing tight grief on the levers and controls.

It can be as useful when you’re lifting and moving pallets with your hands. It can serve as insulation when you’re working in a large cold storage or freezer or protection when you’re handling chemicals.

When you buying safety gloves, you can choose that has pre-curved finger design and washable double-stitched synthetic leather palm for protection and resistance.

Synthetic leather gloves are more resistant to shrinking and add toughness. Some types of safety gloves have cold weather insulation to keep your hands warm and insulated while working in a cold storage or in cold weather conditions.

Fore improved dexterity and agility of the fingers and for you to be able to do the job at hand without restraint, safety gloves have stretchable spandex and Lycra side panels.

Use the right safety gloves for proper protection.

Other types of safety gloves have snag-proof feature. It has inner stitching that prevents the safety gloves from snagging and abrasion when you have a grief on wood or metal and other sharp materials.