Face Shields Are More Eye Protection than Workers Refueling Airplanes Need

While refueling an aircraft, a worker accidentally sprayed aviation fuel into his face. The govt. inspector found that the Class 1A protective eyewear the victim was wearing didn’t prevent the fuel from getting into his face, nose and mouth and ordered the employer to provide workers full face protection. While denying any PPE violation, the employer agreed to upgrade to Class 2B or 3B protective eyewear, i.e., eye’cup or monoframe goggles, and contended that face shields was overkill. The federal OHS Tribunal agreed finding that requiring face shields for aircraft refueling operations wasn’t ‘reasonably practicable’ and that Class 2B or 3B provided ample protection [Menzies Aviation Fuelling Canada Ltd. (Re), 2019 OHSTC 7 (CanLII), March 27, 2019].