A guide to ensure you choose the right safety glove to protect against hazards
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 place a duty on every employer to ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work. Safety gloves play a crucial part in safe handling and can be a vital addition to your PPE (personal protective equipment) so it is important to consider the type of work you will be doing as different types of safety gloves are designed for different types of work.
Heta’s safety gloves are designed to protect the hands from potential hazards such as cuts, abrasions, and chemical exposure. They are also designed to provide a secure grip on tools and materials. With so many different types of safety gloves available, it can be difficult to know which pair of Heta gloves is the right choice. This guide aims to help you choose the right Heta safety glove for the job at hand.
There are 4 key questions to answer to help when choosing the right safety glove:
1. What substances are being handled?
2. Is the environment wet, hot or cold?
3. Is the worker exposed to cut, abrasion or puncture risk?
4. What is the duration of contact with the hazard?
What substances are being handled?
If you are working with hazardous chemicals, look for gloves with EN 374 ratings to show that the glove is tested for chemical resistance. Our disposable glove options are both chemical resistant and include our Chemical Grip Glove which provides a textured surface for improved grip and our Biodegradable Glove which is also medical grade and fully biodegradable. If you are working with sharp objects, you should choose a pair of dual cut-resistant and chemical-resistant gloves, eg: gloves marked EN 374-3 and EN 388 give protection from chemicals and from mechanical hazards.
Consider breakthrough/permeation/degradation; breakthrough time is the time a chemical takes to work through (permeate) the glove material and reach the inside, with the substances passing through the material without going through pinholes or pores or other visible openings. The permeation rate is the amount that then moves through. Degradation is damage of the glove material and can be seen when the glove cracks or tears more easily when in contact with a substance. You would want to consider how long you are exposed to chemicals when choosing the gloves but as a general rule, look for high breakthrough time, low permeation rate and excellent or good degradation rating.
It is important to note that no glove material will protect against all substances, to be sure the glove material protects against the substances handled, look for the letters beneath the EN374 label which will denote which chemicals the glove is tested to protect against. Due to wear and tear, no gloves will protect against a specific substance forever, so understanding how to spot the signs that your safety glove has reached the end of its natural life are vital – if in doubt, throw it out!
Is the environment wet, hot or cold?
Prolonged or frequent contact with water, particularly in combination with soaps and detergents, can cause dermatitis. 'Wet work' is the term used to describe tasks in the workplace that can cause this. To protect the hands from chemical 'wet work' choose a glove that is rated EN374-2. Consider the length of the glove when choosing protection from wet work if the hazard is likely to be a risk to arms as well as hands. If wet/oily objects are handled, choose gloves with a textured surface for good grip. If working in extreme hot or cold environments look for gloves marked EN 407 which provide protection from thermal hazards.
Is the worker exposed to cut, abrasion or puncture risk?
It is important to Identify any other hazards present and if there is a risk of, abrasion, cuts or puncture. Conduct a risk assessment of the user’s tasks to help to identify the risks both with the task being done as well as any environmental hazard from surrounding activity or machinery.
As a general rule, the higher the cut protection, the more durable the glove. A higher cut rating (The Sterling & The Magnus) will provide better protection against cuts and abrasions but gloves with a lower cut rating (The Niko & The Mack) will provide greater dexterity for fine motor tasks. Heta gloves are knitted tighter than most competitors to provide greater durability and improved cut, puncture and tear protection than you’d find from standard safety gloves and our engineered yarns provide a softer and more malleable glove than is possible with traditional filament yarn, providing greater dexterity and comfort to the wearer.
Regardless of the hazard, you should ensure users know how to use the glove properly to protect themselves. Inform them of expiry dates and how to monitor for wear. You should review glove use and user application periodically to ensure the gloves are performing properly and keeping the user safe from the risk of cuts, abrasion or puncture.
What is the duration of contact with the hazard?
Considering how long the user will be in contact with the hazard will potentially have an impact on glove choice.
Contamination; to protect the wearer from intermittent chemical hazards, single-use, disposable gloves may be the best choice to provide adequate protection whilst reducing the risk of chemical contamination. Whether using chemicals or not, users should be mindful of contaminants on the surface transferring to the skin when removing or putting on gloves, cleaning as much contaminant from the surface of the gloves before removing will reduce the likelihood of contact with skin. Permeation of contaminants, through fine dust or liquids, to inside a reusable glove can lead to skin irritation and reduce the effectiveness of the glove. Users should follow label instructions on reusable gloves and wash the gloves regularly and thoroughly when contaminated.
Comfort & breathability; if the safety glove does not need to be worn for long periods, it is less important to consider comfort and breathability, however comfort is more important for longer wear. Breathability is also important for longer wear as it reduces the risk of causing skin irritation from sweating. All of Heta’s reusable gloves provide excellent breathability, with even our waterproof Sterling glove ¾ dipped to create a great level of wet protection, whilst also remaining breathable and comfortable for extended periods.
Correct fit; comfortable gloves are more likely to be worn so gloves should fit the wearer as gloves that are too tight can reduce circulation in the hand, cause excess sweating and lead to loss of grip. Gloves that are too large can lead to folds in the fabric, this can reduce the dexterity of the glove, making precise work impossible. Gloves that are too large can be uncomfortable and are more likely to be removed or slip off the user’s hands. To avoid this, ensure you have a full range of sizes in stock for the user and encourage users to utilise sizing guides to ensure they have the correct size safety glove.
Robustness and dexterity; users need a glove that balances dexterity and robustness to fit the task they are doing. If users cannot carry out the task because the glove is too thick, then they may decide not to wear them. All Heta reusable gloves are long lasting and are designed for maximum dexterity, whilst providing great cut level protection. As a general rule, the lower the cut rating (A – The Niko and C – The Mack) the greater the dexterity for fine motor work, however the procurement manager should always refer to H&S experts within their organisation to ensure that the cut level, chemical protection, grip and level of protection from liquids is adequate for the task the user is carrying out.
Although we are in the business of selling Heta gloves, we echo the Health and Safety Executive in stating that the most effective and reliable hazard prevention to protect the hands, is to design and operate processes to avoid contact with harmful substances and remove, where possible, risk from cuts, crush injuries and abrasions. Health and Safety professionals in an organisation should take steps to achieve this before resorting to the use of protective gloves. Where this is not possible, Heta gloves is here for you, get in touch with one of our helpful team to discuss your organisation’s safety glove needs.
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