The U.S. Dept. of Labor announced on Dec. 11, 2024, that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment standard (PPE) for construction. The final rule explicitly requires the equipment to properly fit any construction worker who needs it to protect against hazardous conditions. This change helps to protect everyone since one size does not always fit all.

In the past, it has been a common occurrence for exceptionally large or small people to be given PPE that did not fit them. This problem ranged from gloves, safety vests, respirators, and safety glasses to fall protection. But if someone raised a concern, the answer they were often given was that there was none available at the jobsite in their size, or they were told to make it work.

 
However, those responses are not a solution, and as everyone knows, PPE must fit properly if it is to work. Based on input from numerous stakeholders in response to a previously issued Request for Information (RFI), OSHA surmised that the language regarding PPE standards in the construction industry should be amended to more accurately reflect the needs of a changing workforce, notably, that more women are in construction jobs than in previous decades and need PPE that fits them. 

After a prolonged period of questions and comments, the rule was finalized. This rule change is the result of agreements between employers and unions in response to OSHA's efforts to make it clear that employers must provide the right PPE foreach worker who needs it and that PPE must be appropriate for the type of work and fit properly. This change aligns OSHA's construction industry standard for PPE (29 CFR 1926.95(c)) with the standard already in place for general industry.

Many different types of PPE must be sized to fit an individual worker. When PPE does not fit an individual properly, it may cause the equipment to be ineffective in providing protection to the worker. That could create new hazards when using equipment like respirators, fall protection, or gloves. For example, ill-fitting protective clothing can become caught in machinery or cause other hazards and may discourage workers from using it because of the poor fit. If a worker will not wear PPE because it does not fit them properly and they view it as more dangerous to use, then the PPE is not protecting anyone.   

With women entering the construction industry in increasing numbers, equipment manufacturers are responding by offering extended sizes of many different types of PPE. If you need help sourcing smaller or larger sizes, a company like Thomaston Safety Group may be able to help. In addition to providing organizations with a wide variety of PPE, they also offer more inclusive sizes. 

Dear Customers:

First, we wish you good health, peace and spectacular success in this new year.

Second, you may have heard that the State of Connecticut has implemented legislation affecting sales and use tax on various products and services as of January 1, 2020.

One category of products that affects us collectively is “Safety Apparel.”

State of Connecticut’s legislature has repealed the sales tax exemption on this product category as follows:

“Sales of safety apparel, defined as “any item of clothing or protective equipment worn by an employee for protection during the course of the employee’s employment,” and further described in Policy Statement 2004(4), Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Safety Apparel, will become subject to sales and use taxes for sales occurring on or after January 1, 2020…”

The official DRS memorandum can be found here.

All invoices dated as of 1/1/2020 will reflect a CT sales tax on your safety products.

Best Regards,

Thomaston Safety Group

Thomaston Safety Group Announces Addition of Mach1 Automatic and Semi-automatic Stretch Wrap Machines

August 18, 2016

Plymouth, CT –

When you make the move from hand wrapping to machine stretch wrapping, you instantly reduce film usage. In addition to the dramatic 50% cost reduction, you're also making a sustainable choice by reducing your carbon footprint.

With this in mind, Thomaston Safety Group is pleased to announce the addition of Mach1 automatic and semi-automatic stretch wrap machines to our ever growing family of Specialty Packaging and Shipping products.

If we are not already supplying you with traditional or vented stretch wrap, then it is time for you to call us for a competitive quote.

There are several advantages for consumers including:

Reduced Film Usage - Pre-stretching means actually stretching the film before it is applied onto the pallet load unlike stretching it while applying it that results from hand wrapping or using a machine that does not have a pre-stretch film carriage. If you’re wrapping 10-15 pallet loads every day then a Mach 1 wrapper with the X-Stretch film carriage is the appropriate choice.

Better Unitizing - Pallets are mainly stretch wrapped in order to protect them from damage during transport by effectively unitizing them.

Pre-stretching the film 250% without neck down before it’s applied to your pallet load increases the tensioning forces that are applied to the load to a degree that can only be achieved by Mach1’s uniquely built X-Stretch, pre-stretch film carriage.

Ship Faster and Safer - Stretch wrapping is the last step of your manufacturing or distributing process and you want to be sure it’s done fast and well. Wrap time will depend on several factors such as load size, stability and quantity of film applied but on average 1 minute is all it takes to perform a wrap cycle.

Optimized Labor Force - Taking the physical effort out of the equation means that operators remain more alert and efficient to get the job done. Grow your business without increasing labor costs.

Call us today for additional information at 1.800.255.4568.

About Thomaston Safety Group

Thomaston Safety Group was established in 1980, as a traditional industrial safety supply distributor offering quality products, competitive prices and best of all, our world-class customer service. But our customers demanded more, requesting that we provide brand name industrial supplies in addition to quality safety products. Thus, our valued customers were the catalysts in our evolution from an industrial safety supplier to a more comprehensive MRO supplier.

About Mach1

Mach 1 manufactures stretch packaging machines and systems for a wide array of industries. Their broad range of models stretches from low volume economical turntable stretchwrappers to fully automatic conveyorized stretchwrap systems with high production rates. Their engineering team will customize any of their standard machines or systems to meet and exceed your specific requirements.