Hand protection (Impact)
No glove provides complete protection against
“crushing” forces. There is no
substitute for operator training and proper safeguarding. High visibility gloves and machinery can
improve awareness. Properly designed,
and applied, impact protection can limit and reduce hand injuries related to
objects striking hands and hands striking objects.
Comfort First -
Studies have confirmed that the comfort level of a pair of gloves directly
affects a worker's willingness to wear the gloves. It may seem counter-intuitive, but first and
foremost look for a glove that is comfortable. Stiff and bulky gloves will
never be worn by workers in the field or they will have to take them off to
properly do their job, and that is when they will get injured.
Construction / Design
Impact gloves should have coverage in all the right
areas. Back of hand, palm, fingertips
and thumbs should be protected where required.
Large blocks of rubber however limit flexibility. Plenty of “flex points” should be provided.
When selecting impact-resistant gloves, how the
Thermoplastic Rubber (TPR) is affixed to the glove matters a lot. Try picking
and pulling at the TPR, if it peels even slightly, it won’t hold up in the
field. Most anti-impact welding gloves have TPR sewn on with Kevlar or sonic
welding.
Palm-coated anti-impact gloves are now available;
the advantage of these is they are generally less expensive and provide better
dexterity. A mechanic’s style typically
offers more protection and durability but sacrifices dexterity.
Standards
At the time of this writing standards are still being established and adopted.
The current standard specifies three performance levels
that offer a numerical representation for the impact protection a glove offers,
with the lowest protection rated as Level 1 and the highest as Level 3. The
overall performance level of a glove reflects the lowest performance level
recorded. For instance, if the fingers and thumb meet Level 1 but the knuckles
meet Level 2, the glove still will be rated as Performance Level 1. The glove
will be marked with a pictogram to identify its performance level, which must
be “visible and legible throughout its normal useful life.”
ANSI/ISEA 138 is specifically designed for
industrial gloves and the special protection they offer to workers. Whereas EN
388 covers the knuckles, ANSI/ISEA 138 covers knuckles and fingers, which is
critical for industrial glove users whose fingers are frequently at risk. The
oil and gas sector, which is a large user of impact-protection gloves, has
collected figures through the International Association of Drilling Contractors
showing that, in 2016, fingers remained the most vulnerable part of the body in
terms of both lost time and recordable injuries.
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