As time pass by, we have seen the technological improvement in vehicle safety which makes passengers and the driver more secure. However, what about the workers who maintains and repairs vehicles?
Of course, automobile manufacturers ensures that safety of their workforce by implementing strict rules inside their facilities. And personal protective equipment are a must for these people. As you know, working on cars can be hazardous and unsafe if you don’t use protective gears and equipment.
But what about for do-it-yourself at home mechanics? Those people who are not truly an automotive expert but just love improving and building their rigs and cars? Do we have to use PPE’s? Yes of course!
In this post, I’ll discuss the importance of using PPE for do-it-yourself at home mechanics and list some of the most important gears that you must have.
The Importance of PPE in Vehicular Repairs & Maintenance
Like in many fields, the use of personal protective equipment (or PPE) is a must to ensure that a worker is less prone to injuries and accidents. The same applies to the automotive industry where hazardous liquids, moving parts, heavy equipment and many other things which can potentially hurt or injure a mechanic.
What more if you are not a mechanic but a car geek that loves to modify cars and do maintenance on their own? Yes, you need PPE’s more as a means of added safety and security while working on cars.
Using personal protective equipment can ultimately protect you from getting injured, burned, bruised, cut or even death. As you know, your own car garage may seem safe, but it can also become a hostile condition if you don’t know the importance of wearing protective gears and equipment.
So before you start your car DIY journey, make sure you own the following PPE first to have a safe working environment.
Face Guard or Goggles
First thing for DIY enthusiasts to have is either a face guard or a quality eye protection goggles. There are a variety of brands in the market to choose from. But of course, choose the one that offers good quality for top notch protection.
Face guards can protect your whole face from potential debris or sharp objects when working on your cars. This is most important when you often use a power tool. Face guards can also protect you from burns that may come from hot liquids like engine oil and water coolant.
If you are not comfortable using face guards, then at least use a protective goggles for your eyes. Choose a product that is scratch resistance, has anti-fog properties and chemical resistant. Most brands that offer these features use polycarbonate goggles or face guard.
So the next time you work on your car, ensure that you are wearing either a face guard or eye goggles.
Gloves
As you often see in my videos, I always wear gloves whenever I do maintenance or repairs on my cars. Gloves should be in your bucket PPE list if you plan on doing preventive maintenance on your cars.
Why? Because as a DIY mechanic, protecting your hands should be your number one priority. Cars have nasty parts that can easily injure your hands. This include electric circuit arcs, thermal discharge, hot coolant, toxic chemicals and oils, and many others.
So better gear yourself up with a quality protective gloves that will ensure the safety of your hands while working on your beloved cars.
Protective Suits
Again, car do have hazardous chemicals, substances, and contains high temperature liquids that can easily melt your conventional shirt or clothing.
Protective suits are readily available in the market to help protect your body from getting into direct contact with any substances mentioned above.
Of course, choose the best protective suits that are comfortable, lightweight, durable and ensure that it will never restrict your movements when working on your vehicles. These suits are high heat resistant, electric resistant, and some protective suits are oil resistant too.
Using protective suits will give you peace of mind when working on a difficult car repairs such as transmission rebuild, engine repairs, brake jobs, oil replacements, under chassis cleaning and many others.
Honorable Mentions
Other PPE that are nice to have but not completely required include:
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- Hard hat
- Steel toe boot
- Hearing protection / Ear plug
- Respirator / Dust mask
Hard Hat / Helmet: Head protection is an important PPE for most industries and someimtes, it can also be useful for car maintenance and repair jobs. You can use hard hats if you work underneath the vehicle, doing some steel modifications and some welding jobs.
Steel Toe Boot: Most of the time, heavy objects fall from our vehicle such as wrenches, power tools, metal rods, etc. Wear steel toe boots to have protective reinforcement in the toes and prevent compression or any falling objects from hitting your foot.
Ear Plug / Hearing Protection: Like in a building construction, PPE’s such as ear protection is a must to help preserve our hearing health. Heavy machineries can damage our ears so ear plugs is a good way to combat this problem. In vehicle jobs, using power tools may require you to use some ear protection.
Respirator / Dust Mask: A respirator or dust mask can help prevent toxic gases from entering your body. This is true especially if you work on your car’s paint job, interior and exterior cleaning, and many other car works.
Summary
If you own any type of vehicle, it is inevitable that you will get your hands dirty and work on your car someday. So better buy yourself one or two of these PPE’s to keep yourself from harm while fixing your car.
