Importance of PPE to prevent health risks due to skin exposure

If you work in safety long enough, you start to notice a pattern. Most exposure controls focus on what people breathe in. Masks, respirators, air monitoring — all critical. But skin exposure? That’s still one of the most underestimated risks in many workplaces.

I’ve seen too many situations where the respiratory protection was spot-on, but skin protection was treated as secondary. And that’s where problems start.

Skin Exposure Is Easier to Miss Than You Think

The skin is the body’s largest organ and one of its most important protective barriers. But it’s also a highly effective absorption surface. That’s something a lot of people forget.

How much a chemical gets into the body through the skin depends on more than just contact. It’s affected by:

• Cuts, irritation, or dryness
• Repeated handwashing or sanitizer use
• How long the substance stays on the skin
• The concentration and properties of the chemical

Small cracks in the skin or repeated “wet work” can significantly increase absorption. From a safety standpoint, those are red flags — even if there’s no immediate reaction.

Why Skin Protection Has Lagged Behind

Historically, exposure controls have focused on inhalation. That’s driven how we measure risk, how we set limits, and how we train workers.

The problem is that we now know more than we did 20 or 30 years ago. Some substances once considered low risk are now linked to immune disorders, reproductive effects, developmental issues, cancer, and metabolic conditions.

So if your controls stop at respirators, you’re only solving part of the problem.

Manufacturing: Where the Risks Add Up

Manufacturing consistently shows up as one of the highest-risk sectors for occupational skin disease. A major contributor is metalworking fluids — and we’re talking about exposure affecting over a million workers.

These fluids aren’t just oil. They’re complex chemical mixtures designed to reduce heat and friction during machining and grinding. They work well for production, but long-term skin exposure has been associated with:

• Chronic dermatitis
• Folliculitis and keratosis
• Pigment changes and photosensitivity
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Increased incidence of several cancers

On top of that, exposure to certain metals can trigger hypersensitivity reactions that don’t stay limited to the skin. Once someone develops that sensitivity, it’s often permanent.

In these environments, chemical-resistant gloves and clothing aren’t optional. Fit matters. Durability matters. And consistency matters.

Healthcare: Different Setting, Same Problem

Healthcare environments present a different kind of exposure risk, but the outcome is often the same.

Disinfectants, sterilants, antibacterial soaps, and frequent glove use all take a toll on the skin. For decades, substances like glutaraldehyde were used despite well-documented toxicity. The result? Chronic dermatitis, occupational asthma, and workers forced to leave the field altogether.

Repeated wet work weakens the skin barrier, making chemical penetration more likely. Add in latex sensitivities, and glove selection becomes a safety decision — not just a purchasing one.

What This Means for Safety Programs

From a safety management perspective, skin exposure can’t be treated as an afterthought. Immediate irritation is only part of the issue. The long-term systemic effects of repeated low-level exposure are harder to see and harder to undo.

Every job task needs to be evaluated for:

• Direct skin contact risks
• Frequency and duration of exposure
• Proper PPE selection and fit
• Long-term health implications, not just acute reactions

The Bottom Line

If there’s one thing experience teaches you, it’s that prevention is always cheaper — and better — than reaction.

Skin protection is a critical part of exposure control, not an optional add-on. When PPE is selected correctly and used consistently, it protects workers not just from today’s hazards, but from health problems that may not show up for years.

That’s the kind of protection every safety program should be aiming for.