Chainsaws are powerful and valuable cutting tools without any doubt. They help to cut huge and thick trees. They also help in trimming and pruning.
Moreover, you can easily make a tree fall on the ground using a chainsaw. So chainsaws are indeed mighty machines.
Since they are powerful and have such capabilities, the chances of being injured are also high while using a chainsaw.
So to avoid getting injuries, you have to know about chainsaw safety gear, also called “Personal Protective Equipment” or PPE.
So before using a chainsaw, it’s worth making sure you are wearing all the necessary safety gear to protect yourself. Then, after ensuring your safety, you can start dealing with a chainsaw.
Chainsaw safety gears or personal protective equipment are used to protect the operator. But they cannot eliminate all hazards or injuries.
They only can reduce all possible dangers that may occur while using a chainsaw. So it would help if you always were careful while using a chainsaw.
Many kinds of safety gear are available in the market, which offer you protection while working with any dangerous tool such as a chainsaw. Here I will mention some protective equipment that is incredibly important and should not be ignored if you want to reduce the possibility of being injured. So let’s start.
First, I will introduce the name of chainsaw safety gear, and they are:
Chainsaw Safety Gear
- Safety Glasses
- Hearing Protection
- Gloves
- Chaps
- Pants
- Boots
- Helmets
- Jackets and Sleeves
- Head Torch
Chainsaw protective gear is specially designed to protect six main parts of the body of its users. These include hands, Head, eyes, ears, legs, and feet.
Chainsaw Safety Glasses
If you can only afford one piece of safety gear, it should be safety glasses. A chainsaw produces chips that may fly and hit the user’s eyes, which may damage the eyes and cause vision loss. Safety glasses or goggles prevent these flying chips from striking the eyes.
In safety glasses, some things should be included. These things are-
- Side shields
- Stainless steel wire mesh lenses
- Scratch-resistant coating
- Starlite model or UVA/UVB protection
Hearing Protection
A chainsaw is used to cut woods, and while working, it produces a high amount of sound. Non-electric chainsaws are very loud and create 115dB above the recommended exposure limit of 85 dB from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
This high sound is responsible for losing hearing capacity and can make one deaf. Though electric chainsaws are not very loud, they also may cause hearing loss. So it is necessary to wear hearing protection if you don’t want to be deaf or slight deaf.
Gloves
Chainsaw gloves, which protect you from cutting fingers, should always be worn while working with a chainsaw. Besides, gloves are also used to prevent contact with oils and fuels.
Chaps
Chaps cover worn-over pants, and their goal is to protect your legs from being cut. Chaps, stop and jam the chainsaw if it accidentally struck your legs.
There are two types of chainsaw chaps named apron chaps and full-wrap chaps. Apron chaps are used to protect the front part of your leg only, but full-wrap chaps are used to wrap around the lower leg.
Before purchasing a chainsaw chap, make sure that it has international safety standards and fits on your body correctly.
Chainsaw Pants/Trousers
Chainsaw trousers are made to provide maximum protection to the chainsaw user. It is designed with unique layered fabrics. A Chainsaw PPE kit can help to prevent serious injuries. So this safety gear shouldn’t be skipped.
Chainsaw Boots
Not all boots can protect you from being cut by the chainsaw. In this case, you need to buy specially customized boots that are specially designed to prevent chainsaw cut.
Chainsaw boots have layers of chainsaw protective fabric on the front surface that is exposed outside of the shoes. These steel-toe logging boots can’t be cut through, which prevents injuries.
In addition, these special boots protect the user from the front and sideways cuts. If boots are distinctively marked as suitable for chainsaws, you can buy them and use them when you make cuts with a chainsaw.
Some features of safety boots are given below:
- Steel Toes- These boots cannot be cut through with a chainsaw blade. It also prevents impact injuries.
- Non-Slip Soles- Chainsaw is a heavy tool, and you need to hold the saw with your hands. So the boot should be of such quality that the operator has stable footing to avoid falling while holding a chainsaw, which is more extensive and heavy in size.
- Steel Anti-Penetration Plate-This steel plate is placed on the outside of the boot. It is used to protect your foot from sharp objects and stops them from penetrating it into the boot.
Helmets
A helmet is essential safety equipment that protects you from being injured. In addition, the helmet offers some security for the operator’s head.
The Head is a vital part of our body, so it should be protected with the right chainsaw protective gear, and it is a helmet.
When working in a wooded area and cutting down trees, you need to wear a helmet must. A kickback may occur while working with a chainsaw, and the safety helmet protects the operator from getting injuries when a kickback happens.
Sometimes the running saw jumps up unexpectedly out of the cut, and a kickback occurs. So kickback is very dangerous. Thus a helmet protects you from kickback.
Sometimes small pieces of wood fly in the air while cutting using a chainsaw. This small wood piece may hit your face and cause injuries if you do not have a helmet.
The helmet and its eye protection guard protect against slight falling or flying objects like dead twigs and branches from a falling tree. A suitable headgear can reduce the chances of head injury.
Nowadays, the best chainsaw safety helmets come with headgear, a face shield, and hearing protection.
Therefore, you can get three facilities by buying only one piece of safety equipment. So you do not need to buy a helmet, face shield, and hearing protection separately.
Chainsaw Jackets and Sleeves
The remaining part of your body that needs protection is your body and arms. If you wear a jacket, your body and arms will be protected from flying debris, branches, and thorns. A coat will also keep your body warm in cold weather when working outside with a chainsaw.
Chainsaw sleeves are used to cover arms and hands and protect you from cuts. It also resists you from accidentally cutting yourself with the chainsaw chain.
Head Torch
The head torch helps you concentrate on your work in a dark place. For example, chainsaws are used to cut trees in a forest area, usually not so bright. The Head torch will help you to see your surroundings.
Conclusion
After reading all the above information, I hope you have learned how important it is to wear chainsaw protective gear.
These chainsaw safety equipment are essential for every chainsaw user. A chainsaw can easily rip your arms, legs, face, fingers, etc., as a dangerous tool.
In a blink of an eye, your body may turn into pieces if you ignore the importance of wearing chainsaw safety gear. So you should choose the best chainsaw safety gear and buy it if you will work with a chainsaw regularly or professionally.
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