As hand injuries represent up to 28% of work-related incidents and are being accounted for more than one million of emergency room visits every year according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, workers need to be educated on safe practices when using their hands. While many hazards are impossible to prevent, personal protective equipment (PPE) is a great defense against hands and fingers injury.

With many types of gloves available on the market, it’s essential to identify what type of protection is required for every type of task and what criteria to look for. In a matter of fact, hand injuries can be prevented by recognizing the hazards, using safe work practices and by using the right-hand protection for the job.

When selecting your gloves, there is a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

Sizing

Sizing should be one of the first thing to look for. Dexterity is essential for every worker and wearing the wrong size of glove can have a huge impact on someone’s work. Wearing the right size of glove can also increase comfort, which can influence workers to wear their assigned PPE.

Grip

Gloves adherence’s is also something to verify when choosing your product. Some tasks are really specific and requires using tools in a precise way, making it essential to have a good grip. As for example, slippery objects call for gloves made of cotton or nitrile and rough surfaces call for leather gloves.

Abrasion resistance

Abrasion resistance is something that needs to be looked for in order to prevent the gloves from losing its coating by rubbing or scrapping. Most good quality gloves will show their ANSI resistance ratings as an indicator of the glove’s durability.

Chemical Resistance

Many gloves are rated for degradation, breakthrough, and permeation rates. It is important to choose a glove that provides the best resistance to the chemical being.

Cut resistance

This criterion is the ability to resist a sharp object moving across the surface of the glove without cutting through the material. There are two certifications that need to be observed which are the CE (European) and the ANSI (North American).

In conclusion, getting the right type of glove is essential for workers’ safety. Decreasing the number of hand injuries and incidents will reduce lost work time and help maintain both productivity and workers’ life quality. At Neobex, our role is to help you chose the right kind of glove protection for your health care professionals. We have many types of gloves that can suit your needs.