Hand injuries take a toll on workers and businesses in the form of lost productivity and lost wages. Hence, proper work gloves selection plays a vital role in creating a safer workplace to ensure productivity and employee morale. 

Suppose you are a safety professional in charge of ensuring hand protection. In that case, you need to identify relevant industry guidelines related to your specific area of work. For instance, a mechanic is not expected to wear cooking gloves that do not provide the right level of protection against harmful chemicals a mechanic is exposed to at work. 

With that said, choosing the right glove is important for business owners and safety officers to address specific workplace hazards. 

How do you find suitable safety hand gloves?

Evaluate the application and the hazard

Not every work environment is the same, and so are the hazards. For example, oil and gas workers are especially exposed to abrasions, cuts when dealing with slippery, oily, sharp objects. Hand and finger injuries are very common in this sector. 

Construction work is another dangerous profession. Workers have to deal with heavy machinery, hand-operated tools that pose severe threats to hands. 

Start by taking a closer look at:

• Activities, equipment, work processes that can cause hand-related injuries
• Feedbacks obtained from workers as they recognize hazards that pass a first at-a-glance inspection
• The manufacturer instructions of tools and machinery dealt by workers 
• Non-routine operations like maintenance cleaning could pose hazards. For example, work-related skin issues are often caused by unknown exposure to chemicals. 

Know the workers’ needs

Not all workers are exposed to the same level of risk. Where do your people work? are they exposed to a hand hazard? Do they work with unguarded machinery? Are they new? Are they well-trained to handle equipment?

On this note, make sure that you identify ways to reinforce safety expectations for the workers while working on the site. 

Know the risk levels

Assess each hazard and ask yourself how likely it is that it will cause harm and how severe consequences can turn out to be. For example, cut-related injuries fall into the following categories based on the severity:

• Abrasions: the skin getting scrapped by an uneven surface 
• Incisions: resulting from contact with a sharp edge 
• Lacerations: open wounds, torn from contact with a jagged edge

As much as safety managers select work gloves with the best intention in mind, workers will find it safe and comfortable to wear gloves. 

Match gloves with the application 

OSHA suggests wearing gloves based on the task at hand, the chemicals encountered and the performance of the glove material. For example, automotive plant workers are exposed to rough edges. Therefore, they need gloves that are resistant to injuries like punctures and cuts. 

The key takeaway 

There is not one work glove to ensure protection from all types of hand injuries. However, staying aware of the latest innovations, considering workers’ needs and training, can significantly reduce the risk of hand injuries at work. 

Are you ready to put safety first? Reach out to GLOVEMART now to explore the range of work gloves to suit your workers’ needs.