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Agriculture

Safety Considerations in Agriculture

Agriculture

Sectors involved in agriculture represent around one third of the total world’s labor. The sector is diverse and concerns a wide range of sub-sectors found in indoor and outdoor environments, such as working with machines, animals, plants, foods or chemicals.

Agriculture relies on the use of chemicals to combat a wide range of threats in agricultural or livestock production. Treating animals, crops, plants and grain stores requires potency for effective control of pests, making these chemicals a significant threat to human health. This potentially exposes workers to a wide range of hazards and safety risks. It is essential to take suitable precautions and trust Ansell to safeguard you against chemical exposure with the correct personal protective equipment when handling pesticides.

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INDUSTRY HAZARDS

Ansell is Committed to Your Safety during agriculture and livestock production, and understands using the appropriate personal protective equipment is your best defense to limit exposure against workplace agricultural chemical exposure hazards. While the nature of the risk will largely determine the PPE you need, adequate chemical protection calls for a detailed understanding of the substances to which your workers are exposed.

Selecting the right PPE is a challenging task given the range of different hazards, chemicals and chemical mixtures that confront agriculture chemical users. These could include high or relatively low pesticide exposure, in addition to certain tasks that expose workers to vibration risks when working with machinery. Furthermore, we have options focused on viral and ergonomic needs, for all-day work in the current environment. That’s why we certify according to the new standards suitable solutions from across our portfolio, including mechanical and chemical protection solutions such as gloves, body suits and aprons. Ansell goes the extra mile to provide a variety of tools to help you understand all there is to know about the latest regulatory updates for better compliance. The EN ISO 27065 was updated and the ISO 18889 was recently established to provide an enhanced assessment of PPE against commercial pesticides.

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Millions of people who work with pesticides with high concentration formulations, whether responsible for mixing, loading, or applying them, or directly involved with the plants’ production, need to be protected. Wearing safety PPE will prevent skin contact with pesticides and any other chemical subtraces that can cause skin damages or diseases. Skin exposures during mixing and loading often occur at the interface of gloves and clothing. Ansell offers appropriate protective clothing and gloves needed to minimize all these risks and following the latest regulatory standards.
Pesticide applications usually involve potential contact with more dilute materials than those handled during mixing and loading, but the duration of contact is normally much longer, so applicators are at substantial risk of exposure through both inhalation and dermal contact. Pesticide residues may remain on plant surfaces and in surface soil for extended periods of time following application. Early re-entry workers are likely to have contact with plants, soil and equipment surfaces with relatively high pesticide residues or dust like pesticide residues or fumigants. Skin contact with these residues or inhalation of volatilized residues can result in exposures to workers who enter treated areas after application.
Vibration in the workplace is generally classified as: hand–arm vibration transmitted through the use of hand-held powered equipment like chainsaws, brush cutters and hedge trimmers. Prolonged exposure can lead to damage to the hand and arm muscles (hand–arm vibration syndrome). The main concerns are the magnitude of vibration transmitted and the duration of exposure. Provide suitable PPE, such as Ansell anti-vibration gloves, may help to prevent all these damages.
Agricultural work can span a wide range of tasks from arduous to sedentary, from stooping, reaching, bending, and carrying out repetitive movements in awkward body positions to sitting in air-conditioned or heated comfort while operating sophisticated agricultural equipment.

Gloves designed with Ansell‘s proprietary ERGOFORM™ Ergonomic Design Technology have been proven to effectively minimize discomfort from prolonged repetitive hand movements, enabling workers to work confidently and comfortably for longer.
As a result of COVID-19, workplaces must consider the need to protect against the spread of illness and viral infection. Ansell offers a wide range of solutions that comply with the World Health Organization’s guidance regarding infection prevention and control. In order to make an informed decision, product purchasers and users should stay abreast of the latest and most complete information regarding appropriate PPE to protect against COVID-19 and other viruses in their specific environments and applications.

 

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