SA: Select the Right Gloves to Prevent Employee Hand Injuries

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Topic: Personal Protective Equipment

Select the Right Gloves to Prevent Employee Hand Injuries

• Your hands are your most valuable resource. Because they are crucial for our lives and work, we must protect them.
• Protecting hands from injuries is a fundamental part of most workplace safety programs and glove wearing is one of the most effective industrial injury prevention programs.
• Hand protection is so important that the employer to provide employers provide, at no cost to employees, almost all personal protective equipment (PPE)—this includes cut-resistant gloves.
• Gloves are valuable protective devices but do not give absolute protection. Their effectiveness depends on how the PPE is chosen, used, and stored.
• Selecting the best glove to protect your employees’ hands can actually be a complex task.
• Many types of gloves are available and each has different uses. But the right cut-resistant hand protection does make a difference.

These estimates underscore the need for proper glove selection and care. Some general glove use and care instructions for your next safety meeting on hand protection include:

• Make sure the gloves fit your hand properly. Gloves that are too small will limit your hand’s mobility and could tear. Gloves that are too big will limit your dexterity.
• Hands should be clean before using gloves. If you put dirty or greasy hands inside your gloves, you are subjecting your hands to potential irritation because dirt and chemicals are being rubbed into your skin inside the glove.
• Fabric and leather gloves should be cleaned regularly or discarded.
• Before wearing, inspect gloves for damage. Replace gloves if they have tears, holes, or other minor defects.
• Make sure gloves are the right length for the job.
• Do not use fabric or leather gloves on liquid chemicals because the material will soak up the chemical.
• To safely remove contaminated gloves: (1) Grasp the outside of the glove (near the cuff) on one hand with the other gloved hand and pull the glove off. (2) Insert fingers from the hand without a glove under the cuff of the glove on the gloved hand. (3) Grasp the inside (clean) surface of the glove and pull it off.

Glove Selection

Selecting the right glove depends on the nature of the job. For example:

• Chemical-resistant gloves can be made of rubber, latex, Viton®, butyl, nitrile, neoprene, or PVC, and are graded by the manufacturer for degradation, breakthrough time, and permeation rate. The type of chemical-resistant gloves chosen will be specific to the chemical being used.

• Gloves made of Kevlar® and metal mesh are resistant to cuts and punctures. These kinds of gloves should be worn when handling saws, knives, or glass.
• Leather or canvas work gloves are commonly used to protect against cuts and scrapes. These can be coated with other materials to improve grip.
• Extreme temperatures of hot or cold require special gloves. Gloves made of terrycloth, leather, or pigskin help protect against burns. Gloves with liners are helpful when working in cold conditions.
• Electricians need lineman’s gloves designed to protect against different levels of voltage. High-voltage gloves are black rubber with red interior so that any cuts or damage to the outside layer can easily be seen. Liners are worn under these gloves to help absorb perspiration.

Chemical-Resistant Gloves: Key Considerations

When it comes to chemical-resistant gloves, several choices exist, and there are a number of issues to consider when selecting the right glove:

• Consider the type of chemical. Acids, caustics, solvents, and oils have different requirements for gloves.
• Chemical contact considerations include the frequency and duration of contact, whether the glove is immersed in the chemical, and the chemical concentration. Usually, thicker glove materials will protect better against higher frequency and duration of use and against higher chemical concentrations.
• Abrasion and cut resistance must be considered if there is potential for a puncture, cut, snag, or tear.
• The length and cuff type (knit, wrist, gauntlet) are important depending on whether you will immerse your hands only, your entire arms, or only use the material with a rag to wipe parts.
• Dexterity and grip must also be considered. If you are working with small intricate parts and chemicals, the glove will have to be thin to provide better dexterity. If the chemical is oily, soapy, or otherwise slippery, the gloves may require extra grip.
• Thermal protection may be required if you are dipping your hands into heated chemicals.

Options

Chemical-resistant gloves are made from many different materials, because a single glove to protect against every type of chemical has not been invented. It is very important that you use the right glove material to protect against the chemical you are using. Here are some options:

• Butyl, a synthetic rubber, works well for a variety of chemicals such as ketones, esters, alcohols, most inorganic acids, and caustics.
• Latex, or natural rubber, has good protective qualities against a variety of chemicals including most acids and caustics, salts, detergents, and alcohols. However, many solvents will break latex down.
• Neoprene, a synthetic rubber with better properties than natural rubber, has good protective qualities against a variety of chemicals such as oils, acids, caustics, and some solvents.
• Nitrile protects against a number of acids and caustics as well as some solvents and fuels.
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-coated gloves have good protection against some solvents, oil, and grease, as well as acids and caustics.
• Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gloves protect against aromatics, ketones, and chlorinated solvents.
• Viton works well against aromatics, hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, ketones, acids, and amines.
• Silver shield gloves resist permeation and breakthrough by more chemicals than any other material.