By Scott Conboy 10 comments

Safety Gloves: What Qualities Should You Look For?

Accidents happen inside our workplace. It is inevitable. Hand injury is one of the main culprit of missed workdays which ends up increase in project costs due to lost productivity, work days and in some cases compensation. Inside our workplace, our hands are one of the most vulnerable part of our body; it is a critical area of the body with actively high risks of accidents. We need to prevent risks, by providing sufficient protection to keep our hands safe.

There are many types of safety gloves, depending on what it is used for. Different sets of job need different types of glove with special features and style.

Cut Resistant Gloves

  • - Mechanical hazards are associated with the handling of rough or sharp objects which could abrade, cut or pierce the skin. These types of gloves are specially designed to protect our hands from cut hazards.

Mechanical Handling

  • - gloves of these type will help workers prevent accidents during handling. Scotty gloves offers a range of different styles of coating suited to whatever job you're doing.

Chemical Protection

  • - Any substance that would inflame, irritate or burn our skin is characterized as chemical hazard. chemical protection gloves are optimal for our industrial tasks. to ensure products are as comfortable and effective as much as possible, features such as liners for comfort and enhanced grip patterns should be added.

Thermal Protection

  • - Thermal hazards come in different forms. Heat could be radiated, conducted, or may be actual flames. Cold is caused by anything such as cold water or frozen gases. Thermal gloves are highly suitable for working in thermal conditions whether indoors or outdoors. Gloves with different grip patterns area preferable so the required grip can be achieved in a wet or dry climate.

Specialist Handling

  • - these type of gloves is purely designed for unique and specialist requirements which includes electrical insulation puncture resistance, vibration dampening, and sharps protection.

Welding Protection

  • - Thermal types of gloves will give ample protection from thermal hazards mainly due to welding works.

Thermal Gloves can shield our working hands from poor weather conditions, they don’t just offer our hands protection from abrasions and cuts. Cold-proof gloves can help aid frostbites, numbness, and chapping, which are some of the common problems when working in extremely cold conditions for prolonged duration. Thermal Gloves are proven effective against convective and conductive heat loss; it is often manufactured water resistant. Take a better look into our product's descriptions for your suitable pair.

Scotty gloves offers various thermal safety gloves; our selection have various styles and features, so it is highly recommended take ample time to furnish through all of our products and find the perfect and suitable ones for your workplace. Though all products provide great insulation, our safety gloves vary in terms of grip, flexibility, visibility and the type of tasks for which they are used. Some products we stock are purely designed to keep you warm in the harshest conditions, even in a blizzard, while others gloves are perfect for a chilly day. Choosing the right thermal gloves means you will have a peace of mind from worrying about your hands getting chapped or overheating.

Our most weather-resistant safety gloves are less flexible but is very efficient in icy environments, they are mostly suitable for works like snow shoveling or hauling large objects. Scotty Gloves also stocks a wide range of gloves, so every client will certainly, find a balance of warmth and flexibility that is perfect for whatever your business does.

For people working outside on construction sites and similar operations, we offer various types of safety gloves, which includes anti-vibration gloves, military gloves, leather, and ski gloves that help keeping hands warm while reducing the risk of accidents. They are great when worn in combination with our other high-visibility safety gear.

The variety of materials used in our selection of thermal gloves means you can find your perfect pair that would suit your priorities, avoid allergy issues and reducing the risk of damage from mildly-corrosive substances. Some of our products have thick paddings that would provide ample protection against abrasions, cuts and bruises; while other products are waterproof so, your workers could stay warm even when working outdoors in wet conditions, one of the most difficult weather to cater with.

You can observe that the grip is positioned in various areas on our different kinds of gloves, while safety gloves are designed to let you grip objects easily with the whole hand. These safety gloves are also perfect for resisting abrasions and tearing, which means you can expect them to last more, even when your workers are engaged in rough work.

Scotty gloves understands our clients' various needs for strenuous works especially in harsh and cold conditions, so we could provide you with safety gloves which are specially designed in providing strong grip; something perfect in construction works and with workers moving goods and equipment in warehouses, which is hard to keep warm in the snowy conditions.

Explaining the Three Risk Categories According to EN Legislation. The PPE directive distinguishes two classes of glove considering two levels of risk: ‘minimal’ and ‘mortal’ or ‘irreversible’ risk. the risk which falls between these two levels may be denoted as ‘intermediate’. A marking system has been developed that will help identify the level of risk and help you select the perfect gloves of the appropriate class.

Risk Category I: Gloves with Simple Design for Minimal Risk

- For gloves of simple design offering protection from low level risks such as janitorial gloves, manufacturers are allowed to certify and test gloves internally such as there is no requirement for certification and testing by a third party.

Risk Category II: Gloves with Intermediate Design for Intermediate Risk

- Some safety gloves are designed to protect workers against intermediate risks like general handling gloves requiring good cut, puncture and abrasion performance. It is subjected to an independent third-party test and certification. These approved parties are the only permitted body that may issue a CE mark, without which the gloves may not be sold. Each notified body has its own identification number. Viable information such as name and address of the notified body which certifies the product needs to appear on the instructions for use that will accompany the gloves.

Risk Category III: Gloves with Complex Design for Mortal Risk

- Gloves designed to protect workers against the highest levels of risk like toxic chemicals, needed to be tested and certified by a notified party. Additionally, the quality assurance (QA) system used by the manufacturer must ensure quality consistency testing or the homogeneity of production of the final product and must be independently checked. The independent party carrying out this evaluation will be identified by a number that will appear alongside the CE mark.

Protective gloves against thermal risks

- This standard denotes performance for protective thermal gloves against fire and heat. The nature and degree of protection is shown by a pictogram followed by a series of six performance levels, relating to specific protective qualities. The ‘heat and flame’ pictogram is accompanied by a six-digit number:

Burning behavior

  • - The duration of a material to continue its burn and glow after exposure to a flame.

Radiant heat resistance

  • - The duration the glove can delay the heat transfer even when exposed to a radiant heat source.

Resistance to small splashes of molten metal

  • - The maximum amount of molten metal drops required to heat the thermal glove sample to a distinct level.

Resistance to large quantities of molten metal

  • - The weight of molten metal required to inflict smoothing or pin holing across a simulated skin that is placed directly behind the glove samples. The test is considered as fail if the metal droplet will remain stuck to the glove material or if the sample ignites or punctured. This applies to Iron as a standard

Contact heat resistance

  • standard that is based on the increasing temperature (100-500 °C) at which the temperature of the sample glove must not increase by 10°C within 15 seconds.

Convective heat resistance

  • - a standard based on the duration the glove can delay the transfer of heat from a flame.

Protective gloves against thermal hazards (cold). Thermal gloves have different sets of standards to accomplish. the gloves should also have high resistance level from wear and tear if claiming convective and contact cold performance.

Resistance to convective cold – standard which is based on the thermal insulation properties of the glove sample which is measured by assessing cold transfer via convection.

Resistance to contact cold – standard which is based on the thermal resistance of the glove material even when exposed to a cold object.

Penetration by water - If the glove fails this test, a notification will be included in the information which states that the gloves may lose their insulative properties when wet.

Marking and information. Safety gloves should be marked with the following:

  • - Manufacturer's name
  • - Glove and size designation
  • - CE mark
  • - Pictograms accompanied by the appropriate performance levels and reference of the EN standard. legible marking should be observed all throughout the lifespan of the glove. If characteristic markings of the glove cannot be viewed, it should be indicated on the its packaging enclosure.

The packaging's markings that should be contained with the following :

  • - Manufacturer's name and address
  • - Usage instructions
  • - CE marks with simple designs, e.g. ‘for minimal risks only’ or relevant pictograms
  • - When protection is limited to a certain part of the hand, statements like this shall be mentioned (e.g. ‘palm protection style only’).
  • - Reference to where needed info can be found, or Instructions for use
  • - Care and storage instruction
  • - Glove designation
  • - Available size range
  • - Limitations of usage
  • - Full list of substances used in the glove which are known to cause allergies
  • - Full list of materials used in the glove should be available upon request
  • - Name and address of notified body which certified the product

Identify the hazards of the material you'll be working with.

  1. Base selection of glove type and material on the type of exposure and nature of the hazard. Some chemicals can easily penetrate gloves that work very well for other chemicals.

Consider these factors :

  • - Chemical type
  • - Temperature extremes, cryogenic properties
  • - Physical hazards (sharps, piercing objects)
  • - PH Level
  • - Toxicity
  • - Infectious potential of biological hazards

Read the Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) for each chemical involved. Determine if you'll have incidental or extended contact with the hazardous materials.

Incidental contact (little or no direct contact with the hazardous material) includes these situations:

  • - Accidental spills or splashes
  • - Accidental overspray from a dispensing device
  • - Handling infectious agents that require barrier protection

Extended contact includes these situations:

  • - Handling highly contaminated materials
  • - Submerging hands in a chemical or other hazardous substance
  • - Need for physical protection from temperature extremes or sharp/piercing objects

For incidental contact, follow these selection guidelines:

Type of glove:

Disposable, surgical-type gloves- are appropriate for incidental contact.

Nitrile gloves - are preferred over latex because of their chemical resistance, their tendency to visibly rip when punctured, and to prevent possible latex allergies.

Disposable glove usage:

  • - Check for rips or punctures before use.
  • - Remove and replace gloves immediately with new ones when a chemical spills or splashes on them.
  • - Never wash or reuse disposable gloves.
  • - Always remove glove before touching common objects such as doorknobs, phones, or elevator buttons.

For extended contact, follow these guidelines:

Type of gloves :

  • - More substantial gloves are required for extended use.
  • - Norfoil gloves are recommended for highly toxic materials and materials that are absorbed through the skin.

Many gloves intended for extended contact are reusable. Check the gloves for :

  • - Rips or punctures before and after each use
  • - Prior contamination
  • - Signs of degradation (change in color or texture)
  • - Replace gloves as soon as signs of degradation appear.
  • - Wash after removal and air dry in the laboratory.
  • - Consider wearing inner surgical gloves for extra protection.
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