Comfort Raises Effectiveness of Protective Equipment

Safety equipment plays a crucial role in protecting mine workers from work-related injury or death. However, these are not the only benefits of using quality safety products: greater comfort may also enhance employee productivity. In order to provide the best possible options to its clients, the personal protective equipment provider Provesicsa focuses much of its efforts on getting to know its clients. “It is the only way we are able to make product suggestions,” says Pavel Santillanes Allande, Commercial Manager of Provesicsa. “We know that client satisfaction originates from customer attention and good product implementation.” Provesicsa is a family business that has over 35 years of experience. One element of the company’s business philosophy is to go the extra mile in the client-provider relationship. As Santillanes Allande explains, “We do not like to sell a product without knowing on what type of project it will be used and under what conditions.” He recalls that when the mining division was created he personally visited all mining operations with whom the company had contracts, in order to analyze and study the challenges that existed on each one of them. It is still very common for the company to find clients that consider protective gear an expense rather than an investment. In getting to know a client’s needs, Provesicsa is able to offer a wide range of products and services in a number of different areas from simple safety practices to the generation of integral protective packages that involve management, resource supply and control at the mine site. “This way, we are able to recommend certain products that are better adjusted to the client’s necessities.”

Apart from safety, comfort is another essential part of personal protective equipment. If comfort is guaranteed, the employee will wear it during the entire shift, lowering the risk of accident or injury. One of Provesicsa’s leading products is safety footwear. Santillanes Allande comments that many companies ask for the cheapest product without considering the fact that their workers will be wearing the footwear for 10 to 12 hours daily. “Feet are especially delicate and essential for physical work. The products we sell are designed to be good for the people that use them. They help to improve blood circulation and they correct posture. Comfort is crucial. If workers use footwear that is too hard, uncomfortable or less ergonomic, they will become tired more quickly and their productivity will be lower. If the footwear is comfortable, ergonomic and absorbs impact, the worker will no doubt be more productive.”

Other products that are used in the mining industry are specialized body wear, such as reflective vests, goggles, hard hats, ear muffs, shock absorbers, dust masks, mining lamps, self-rescuers (in the case of underground mining) and gloves. Provesicsa also offers emergency products such as eye cleansers and absorbent materials to be used in spill control. Santillanes Allande explains that the company has detected a lack of awareness in the correct use of safety equipment. This is where the company’s post-sale division becomes very important, in helping clients to understand the best method for using each product and in providing maintenance. Awareness of the ways in which product misuse can expose workers to higher risk must be increased. “A typical example of improper use is footwear. For some reason, employees believe industrial boots are indestructible. Protective footwear is made of leather and rubber, and if it is left wet or covered in oil or mud product, performance will be compromised,” Santillanes Allande explains.

With its sights set on increasing business in the mining sector in the next few years, Provesicsa has created agreements with manufacturing companies to produce its own redesigns. Rather than wanting to become a manufacturer the company’s aim is rather to reinvent certain products and give them added value. Santillanes Allande explains that a good example of the company’s goal is reflected in the gloves it currently supplies: “In the past we were consuming a large number of industrial gloves. It was great business for us but we wanted to give additional benefits to our clients, so we redesigned the gloves, looking for better leather to improve their durability under extreme working conditions. We found that buffalo leather was much more resistant, hence we redesigned and manufactured doubly reinforced buffalo leather gloves. These gloves last longer and our clients can lower their expenses by purchasing replacement gloves less often. Provesicsa is always looking to expand its product range, with the goal of being specialists in the field. We only sell products for which we have mastered their applications.”