Personal protective equipment is used across multiple professions and industries to protect workers from sustaining injuries at the worksite. PPEs and safety clothing usually include gowns and coveralls, headgear, and gloves, etc. It is crucial that you select the right kind of equipment for your specific task. Especially, if you work at a site where there is a high risk of electrocution or you have to deal with extreme temperatures, you need to wear safety gloves at all times. However, finding the perfect fit for yourself is not always easy, you need to consider multiple factors, especially if your work puts you in high-risk situations.
In most industries, work safety gloves are mandatory and a standard part of employees’ safety equipment or PPE. There are many options you can choose from such as the type of cut, texture, and material grip according to your work. Reinforced gloves are too slippery for some tasks but these might work well for others – rubber palm gloves are not very tough but might work for dextrous jobs.
This article enlists the various types of gloves that best fit certain workplace requirements to help you choose the right ones according to your needs.
Puncture-Resistance
If you work in landscaping, gardening, cooking, carpentry, metalworking, or with power tools, then you will need a pair of cut and puncture-resistant work gloves to protect your hands. Leather gloves are durable and sturdy, ideal for tool-related tasks. For example, high-quality roofing work gloves are manufactured from leather because of their protective qualities. Reinforced palms, finger paddings, and knuckle guards give added protection. Before selecting gloves, you need to ensure that the material has the right padding and thickness for your job.
Blisters And Bruises
Construction sites, woodworking, and heavy yard work use heavy tools and machinery that can cause bruises and blisters on your hands. You need impact-resistant gloves with thick padding for shock absorption and protection from power tool vibrations. The added padding on the planks and knuckles will also prevent repetitive motions from chaffing or bruising your hands.
Chemical and Water Protection
If you have a job in gardening, carpentry, plumbing, painting, or auto work that puts you around chemicals you need liquid-resistant gloves. These chemicals can not only burn your hands, but can also be transferred onto other body parts, making their way into your bloodstream through the skin. Construction site workers can wear liquid-resistant gloves designed specifically to handle tar, concrete, and mortar.
You also need to wear protective gloves if your job requires your hands to constantly come in contact with or be submerged in water. To keep your hands from pruning or getting water-logged, and retain their ability to maintain a grip on tools, water-resistant gloves are necessary. Liquid-resistant safety gloves are mostly rubber-coated or manufactured from synthetic waterproof material. A good-quality glove is watertight, allowing only essential movement.
Cold and Heat Resistance
Welding and metalworking jobs involve high temperatures. Heat-resistant gloves are manufactured from durable and fire-resistant materials that will protect your hands from burns and sparks. Some gloves are also coated with a fire retardant to reduce the risk of your gloves igniting.
Cold-resistant gloves are needed by workers who work at subzero temperatures. These are lined with insulation material to prevent loss of trapped heat, keeping your hands warm. Cold-resistant gloves allow you to have a firm grip on work-related objects and reduces the risk of frostbite.
Electric Shock Absorption
If you are an electrician or your job requires working near live wires, then you need gloves that are made from a leather or rubber material to reduce the likelihood of electric shock. You must ensure that your safety glove manufacturers use a non-conductive material and do not have any metal parts. This will create a high risk of electrocution and violate multiple safety laws. Electrical safety gloves are required to fulfill specific safety standards and should be classed according to the voltage with which you are working.
Conclusion
If the gloves don’t fit perfectly on your hands, then they will fail at providing effective protection. If a glove is too small, then it may leave certain areas on your hands exposed to hazards and may reduce the blood supply to your fingers or wrists, limiting movement. This can be a huge safety hazard if a worker cannot move their hands and fingers properly.
Gloves that are somewhat big in size can shift while working and allow dangerous chemicals and liquids to leak in. They will also be ineffective against temperature extremes and create unnecessary risks by making it difficult to grasp onto things because of the extra fabric around your fingers.
To find a pair that fits your hand perfectly, you need to try on multiple gloves to make the right choice. In the case of online shopping, you can measure the length and width of your hands and compare them with the size guides available in the product description on the website of the company.
Bio:
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