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Hand injuries are among the most common accidents that occur in the workplace. This type of injury is also among the easiest to prevent by ensuring that workers are wearing appropriate safety gloves. An analogy is reaching into your oven without some type of oven mitt. Of course, you would not do this so certainly one would not expect workers to work without the right type of glove to protect their hands. Choosing the proper type of safety glove for the job at hand is of upmost importance as using the incorrect type of glove for a particular job might actually result in more frequent and more serious injuries. This has been found to be a result of overconfidence in the gloves that the workers are wearing; at least when they are not wearing any type of glove, workers tend to be more careful. Even knowing that the glove in incorrect for the task, workers may be careless and overconfident, resulting in injuries.
The most commonly used safety gloves are designed to be cut-resistant and come in different materials for different occupations and types of work.
Industries that use box knives or paper knives should require their employees to wear safety gloves. Workers in the meat packing industry require heavy duty cut-resistant gloves often with steel reinforcing mesh, making it more resistant to the impact type of cutting motion from a meat cleaver. Industries that do not require cutting also may require the use of safety gloves to protect the hands of the workers. Use of chemicals often require heavy duty rubber gloves that reach all the way to the employee's elbows to ensure there is no risk of hands or arms coming in contact with dangerous chemicals. These gloves may also be designed to be heat resistant as these chemicals are often used at high temperatures. Disposable latex and vinyl gloves are also considered to be safety gloves and are probably the most common type of protective glove in use; they are used in the medical professions to protect doctors, nurses, EMTs and many other medical professionals from exposure to blood born diseases.
Protective safety gloves are used by many people who just want to keep their hands clean. In the food industry, gloves are required when workers touch food products to protect customers from illnesses caused by those who do not properly wash their hands or cross contamination. Although there are many places to purchase safety gloves for yourself and your employees, it is important to find a supplier that carries a wide range of gloves for every type of environment and task. At Texas America Safety Company one will not only find a wide variety of gloves in all sizes and styles, but also personal assistance is given as to the type of glove needed for the specific task. The only thing worse than not wearing safety gloves is wearing ill fitting gloves or gloves incorrect for the specific application as serious injury can occur.
Remember, Safety – Texas America Safety!
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