Using protective gloves within the workplace is one of the most safety critical items of PPE that you can get.
However, having the wrong gloves can be a disaster. I have seen many occasions of this in my 35 years of working within the Health and Safety field.
If the gloves do not fit or the grip is poor because they are using the wrong gloves they could be at risk.
Hand injuries can have a huge impact on a worker’s quality of life and their ability to even work, which is a very common occurrence.
Around 1/10 of non fatal accident’s are linked to handling of objects.
Workers could sustain a wide range of hand injuries when they wear gloves that are not suitable for their work tasks. These include fatigue, poor grip, cuts, dropping items, burns, chemical burns to name a few issues.
There are many considerations to be taken into account such as:
- The task
- The environment
- The chemicals involved
- Duration of the work
- Any sharp objects
- The size of the gloves.
- Can the staff member carry out the work with the gloves given.
- Any allergies to certain glove materials.
- Do staff members know how to wear them correctly?
- Have staff had the correct training on the use?
- Do staff members know how to replace them if faulty?
Different work types will require different gloves to be worn.
