Video Q&A - Should hydration and electrolytes be considered PPE?

We all know by now that a good risk assessment should surface the PPE we should be wearing. But what about hydration? Should hydration be in the same conversation as PPE?

Jamie: Hydration as a safety issue?

Bubba: They are more now than, say, 10 years ago. Absolutely, but, you know, in not every case do they associate PPE in sports drinks in the same conversation, if you will, which we consider electrolyte replacement as internal PPE, if you will. You know, the saying goes with us is safety, any safety program, stops and starts with proper hydration. Because if you have somebody that's dehydrated, and they have all the PPE in the world on but their dizzy because that's a symptom from being severely dehydrated. And they have a slip trip and fall accident. Then was it really a slip trip and fall, or was it the fact that they did not have electrolyte replacement products, and they were severely dehydrated? The symptom was they were dizzy, and they fail. That's something that people do not think about a lot of times, and it could go back. And there have been cases where there is a slip trip and fall. They do their own investigation, and it turns out that yes, the reason the person tripped is because they were dizzy.

(Learn more about Electrolytes: What They Are and Why They Matter for On-the-Job Hydration.)