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Yesterday’s blog covered… sizing the glove correctly. Today’s blog…

5. Assessing other factors

Having done all the above, you are almost ready to select the glove that you will need. Additional factors that you need to consider before you make your glove selection are:

• How long do you need the glove to be?
  Do you simply need to protect the hands themselves or is there a need to protect the wrists and even part of the arm? Length of glove is important to the assessment of the correct glove. Use the chart below to make the right selection

  

• Do you need a safety cuff?
  

  If you are working around moving parts and machinery, for example, you will probably want a safety cuff on your glove to allow the glove to slip off the hand if it should get caught in the machinery rather than pulling the hand into it.

• Are there vibration and/or impact issues to consider?
  

  Vibration and impact issues require special anti-vibration gloves in order to help fight a condition known as “white finger” (also known as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome or HAVS). It is beyond the scope of this article to go into this condition in too much detail but you can find out more about this condition at www.havsrm.com .

• What are the temperature issues (cold weather, hot weather, rain, etc…)?
  Leather gloves, for example provide a certain amount of resistant to cold but loose much of that quality when they get wet. Insulated cold weather gloves might be a better choice for rain and snow.
  In hot weather, workers will prefer gloves that breathe, allowing the hands not to get too sweaty.

(Note: to download the complete article, including all five parts of this blog as well as an Appendix that includes a glossary of terms used, go to http://www.nationalsafetyinc.com/9325/Gloves.html . The article is available as a downloadable pdf at the top of the page).