When Protection is Exhausting: The Other Side of PPE
Sometimes, the day begins with the slight creak of the blind, and you can already sense the scorching heat waiting outside.Antonio, who has worn glasses since childhood and who during the pandemic learned by heart the tricks to keep them from fogging up with a mask, today looks at the PPE on the table with a mix of respect and resignation.
The equipment is there to protect the future, shielding lungs and eyes from dust and sparks.
Because there is no doubt:the use of PPE is vital and non-negotiable.
Without them, the door to accidents opens wider, and health is put at risk.
The Unspoken Discomfort
But it is enough to remember a long day to know thatprotection also has another side:
The fog on the glasses that rises with every breath, cutting off vision just when clarity is needed. Antonio still bears the mark of a small cut on his finger—a reminder of the day when, while trying to clean his glasses, he lost track of the running machines for a split second.
Andhe is not the only one.
In the corridors of the construction site, amidst the murmur of concrete mixers and the vibration of jackhammers, similar stories cross paths:
Colleagues who, under the dome of a helmet at noon, feel the sweat dripping and the air turning to fire.
When summer bears down and the helmet becomes a portable oven, many take it off for a few minutes seeking relief and to avoid heatstroke, even though they know thatprotection is as mandatory as it is necessary.
When the Glove Protects... or Endangers
There are also those who preferthick glovesto cut steel and protect skin against invisible splinters.
But suddenly, that glove—now like a second skin—becomes a threat: an edge snags on a cylinder, a machine pulls, and in a heartbeat, a scare turns into an accident.
The story of Marta, for whom a snagged glove meant weeks of rehabilitation, circulates through the workshops like a protective spell:
Attention. Always pay attention.
We Are Not Machines: The PPE Paradox
Here begins the paradox that is rarely told:
On the outside, what looks like negligence might actually be a silent struggle between the need for protection and the human barriers that the body and mind impose.
Becauseevery worker comes carrying their own baggage:
The kind they bring from home.
The kind they carry through life.
And that backpack weighs heavy at work, amidst the heat, fatigue, and noise.
We are people, not robots, with limits and contradictions.
The Ideal PPE Doesn't Exist Yet (But We Need It)
No one chooses or seeks out risk.
Antonio, Marta, and so many others would like to feel that every piece of PPE protectswithout penalizing agility, that careswithout hidden costs, that accompaniesand does not cause discomfort.
But daily life is made of small, human decisions, and amidst the heat, fatigue, or fogged-up glasses, safety and well-being sometimes seem like enemies.
AI as an Ally, Not a Judge
Here, hope arrives like a fresh breeze:
Theartificial intelligenceis making space to help, observe, and accompany.
Not as a judging or spying eye, but as asensible handthat detects, alerts, and prevents, without bias.
A neutral tool that softens the difficult conflict between protection and comfort.
It does not replace common sense or mutual care, but it can be the invisible hand that saves, the guardian angel that learns with every passing day.
And this is just the beginning
The story doesn't end here.
In future installments, we will discover how AI can change the relationship between work and safety from all perspectives, and how to keep moving forward together to create safer, more accessible, and more human environments for those who make them possible.
📝 Note: We want to make it clear that at no point is there any intention to discourage the use of PPE. On the contrary, its use is absolutely fundamental to protecting health and life.
What we aim for isanalyze this complex reality from all possible perspectives, especially from the perspective of those who use it every day.
Because they are people, with stories, limits, and everything that being human entails.
Understanding that multidimensionality is the way to buildbetter solutions together.