You CAN Have It All

Safety, Comfort, Efficiency and Cost Savings in Hand Protection for the Busy Safety Professional.

By: Jamie Bonnema, Contributor

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 100,000 workers are impacted by hand injuries yearly. But when you’re busy on the job and the options seem limitless, it can be difficult to find hand protection that will keep your workers safe AND compliant. They say you can’t always get what you want, but with new technologies, you CAN have it all. It’s time to find gloves that will not only keep workers safe but will also keep them comfortable and make their jobs easier.

Magid’s AeroDex glove is lightweight, and available all the way up to ANSI Cut Level A9. Image courtesy of Magid.

Comfort and Compliance

PPE manufacturers are offering new solutions so workers can get comfortable and breathable protection for even the most dangerous jobs. The latest technologies and innovations provide gloves all the way up to ANSI Cut Level A9 that are more than 50% lighter compared to HPPE of an equal cut level. Some materials are even engineered to feel cool to the touch! Even impact gloves, notorious for being hot and uncomfortable, now have venting systems that improve airflow and allow for heat dissipation and breathability.

Lightweight options also lend themselves to increased dexterity. We’ve all seen it happen: Bulky and stiff gloves lead to hand fatigue after hours of use. When this happens, the worker pulls his/her gloves off to get the task done without the hassle and strain, and as a result, they’re left unprotected. The flexibility of lightweight gloves gives your workers the tactile sensitivity and dexterity they need to finish the job without feeling uncomfortable, or as though their gloves are getting in the way. Even high-cut level gloves have become so dexterous that workers can pick up small parts such as nuts and bolts with ease.

With combined breathability and dexterity, workers won’t have a reason to pull their gloves off because their hands are sweaty, or because they can’t flex their fingers enough to easily perform their tasks. You might even be amazed that workers are wearing their PPE all day without complaints.

The Versatek glove features an adaptive palm coating that adjusts to the workers’ environment. Image courtesy of Magid.

Gloves for Multiple (or any!) Environments

In many industries, workers aren’t doing just one task. Throughout the day, workers may be assembling items with small parts, transporting rough materials, and working with oily or wet pipes. With so many different environments and gloves to pick from, busy workers are likely to use the wrong gloves or even remove their gloves entirely if they get in the way of their job. And, every time a worker moves to a new task and must change their gloves, productivity is lost.

Today, safety professionals can worry less about making sure everyone is wearing the right glove for their multitude of tasks. The newest glove coating technology uses engineered stabilizers to read and adapt to the environment. This means workers can leave the same pair of gloves on while working in almost any environment including wet, dry, slick, abrasive or oily conditions. As a result, employees can stay focused, productive and even increase their efficiency by eliminating the time it takes to consider the application and change their gloves. Plus, it takes the guesswork out of which glove to use.

Cost Savings and Quality

By selecting a comfortable glove with multiple features that work efficiently in many different environments, you can save money by ordering fewer styles, buying in bulk, and limiting the hassle and expense of keeping many different types of PPE in stock. Instead of buying a glove for wet conditions, a glove for dry conditions and a glove for abrasive conditions, purchase one glove that does it all. Or, if your workers keep pulling their gloves off because they need higher cut protection for one task and more dexterity for another, find a lightweight option that will serve both purposes.

After finding the perfect fit with all the features you’re searching for, you might be tempted to look only at the cost-per-pair of a glove. However, when you test these gloves in your environment, you’ll find that the latest innovations are made with more durable materials that may actually end up saving you money in the long run. New palm coating technologies are testing out at over 50% more abrasion resistance than other coatings, for a glove that may last significantly longer than a cheaper alternative, costing you less over the use-life of the glove.

As a safety professional, safety is your priority, and you understand that comfortable PPE plays a large role in keeping workers compliant while helping reduce injuries. So, save yourself the hassle of searching through hundreds of PPE options and look to new innovations in hand protection. It’s never been easier to find comfortable, adaptable and durable PPE.

For once, you really can have it all. WMHS

Jamie Bonnema is a safety writer at Magid — the proud U.S. manufacturer, innovator and distributor of head-to-toe PPE since 1946. For more information about Magid’s safety products and expertise, visit magidglove.com or call 800-203-0417.