PROTECTIVE CLOTHING & WORKWEAR SAFETY GOES KNEE DEEP In trades where a lot of time is spent kneeling down, knee protection is
vital in preventing painful conditions, immobility and the risk of being out of work. John Dabb, Sales and Marketing Director at Hyde discusses.
While a high-visibility vest or jacket and a hard hat are standard PPE requirements when working on site, knee protection is given much less thought, despite many people spending countless hours at knee height to carry out a range of tasks from tiling floors to plumbing bathrooms.
Inadequate knee protection, or even none at all which is all too often the case for tradesmen, can lead to worrying health complaints in the long-term. Put simply, going without adequate knee protection can affect future mobility and prevent a tradesperson from working. A look at the NHS figures gives a feeling for the reality of the problem: there are currently over 104,000 annually-registered knee operations by the NHS, with 50% of these accredited to occupational hazards.
Bursitis, for example, is a painful condition that is becoming all too common among the trade. Otherwise known as housemaid’s knee, this is one of the most painful complaints that results from frequently kneeling on hard, rough surfaces without the right protection. The most obvious symptom of this painful condition is a swelling at the front of the knee, which feels a little like a small squashy orange. It may cause pain and redness over the front of the knee and makes it difficult to bend the leg, kneel down or even to walk.
“There are currently over 104,000 annually-registered knee operations by the NHS,
with 50% of these accredited to occupational hazards.”
However, the effects of relying on less than adequate knee pads can also be felt more immediately too; kneeling on a sharp nail or taking a tumble can be painful and have an impact on efficiency. Constantly moving around on your knees can cause painful friction burns and damage to the tissue, but on the other hand staying too still for too long decreases the flow of blood and nutrients to the tendons, ligament and cartilage which is often when the long-term trouble develops.
There are, of course, some simple measures that can be taken to guard against all this. Anyone who does need to spend time on their knees frequently as part
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of their job should make sure they bend and flex their legs regularly, for example, as this keeps the knee joint lubricated and reduces risk of injury.
Some of the most common kneepads offer protection in the form of foam padding, which works by compression and does little to cushion from real impact or to support the joints. Fortunately, a great deal of research has been made into the design and construction of this essential PPE item over the last few years.
While the knee obviously takes most of the brunt when you’re kneeling, other parts of the leg also need protection in order to avoid feeling the strain, especially for tradesmen who are bending and stretching throughout the day. Kneepads that offer support not just to the knee itself, but the thighs and lower leg in general are therefore well worth the investment for anyone who spends most of their day on their knees.
Of course, different surfaces will require different levels of protection too, and while the temptation can often be to use the same kneepads for all jobs in order to save yourself some time, doing so can be detrimental. Knee protectors with pads that can be easily changed to offer protection against a variety of different surfaces offer the perfect solution, as they don’t cause any lengthy downtime.
www.brianhyde.co.uk www.tomorrowshs.com
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