PPE for the Australian workforce, commonly known as Personal Protective Equipment, enables the wearer to protect themselves in an accident-prone workspace. The cut resistant gloves are part of the PPE designed more for the hands and fingers, offering adequate protection from cutting accidents. The use of work gloves was mandated, especially since the rise of hand-related injuries in many parts of Australia. Work gloves are sturdy enough to prevent lacerations and other significant injuries, minimising the risk of severe workspace accidents.
Work gloves manufactured in Australia have to deal with four main problems when it comes to machine blades:
- The force with which the sharp edge penetrates the glove. The greater the force, the more the depth of the penetration and the greater the damage caused.
- The direction of the cut is also an essential factor, and if the cut is at right angles to the glove surface, then that is the possibility of maximum damage. Any other angle and the risk of injury is significantly less, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any injury.
- The sharpness of the blade is the next deciding factor, and the stronger the blade, the easier it will penetrate the glove. Since most machine blades are periodically sharpened to maximise effectiveness, workers must take extra precautions to protect themselves.
- Finally, the length of the cut is the last deciding factor and the greater the length of the blade, the more damage will be caused.
Common Misconceptions About Sturdy Work Gloves:
There are many misconceptions revolving around cut resistant gloves that, if left unchecked, can lead to a rise in misinformation and carelessness in workspaces across Australia.
- The first misconception is that all work gloves are cut-proof. This ridiculous statement has no basis or proof to substantiate it. Unless the gloves are made of pure diamond, no work gloves are 100 per cent cut-proof. Work gloves are designed to minimise the risk of injury, not to act as a barrier against the incoming blade. On the other hand, understand their effectiveness, and they have been found to offer adequate protection during an accident.
- The testing standards that are carried out only use the palm surface of the gloves and not the whole glove. There’s a growing misconception that the testing standards consider the gloves’ whole surface, and the cut level ratings are assigned for the palm surface only.
- Materials such as chain metal, engineered fabric and others are the go-to materials for work gloves. However, leather is not a recommended material as leather is skin and skin is most assuredly not cut resistant to any blade.
Work gloves are sturdy enough to provide a high degree of protection, and that material is flexible enough to offer a great degree of movement. Workers can make use of other materials to make the gloves harder or add an extra barrier of protection against abrasion, glass shards and toxic chemical compounds.
Above all, workers must follow all the job safety instructions and regularly maintain their PPE to ensure they are in top-notch conditions. If they follow all the protocols religiously, then there’s no need to fret or stress in the workplace. It’s time to bring down the number of incidents of workplace accidents in Australia by wearing the right PPE and gloves and following all the safety rules conscientiously.
