In this post you'll learn
You never know when the cut-resistant gloves you wear will be your saving grace. Cut-resistant gloves can help protect your hands and fingers from accidents that could otherwise cause significant injury to them.
But not all cut-resistant gloves are created equal. It’s important to understand the difference between cut resistance and cut protection to ensure that you’re choosing the right type of glove for your work environment.
Hand injuries are no small problem
Hand injuries are a common problem for many workers in the oil and gas industries. All workers should wear gloves because they protect against cuts and burns.
The hands have a lot of threats to them in the oil and gas industry:
- caught between objects
- struck by something
- chemicals being absorbed
- vibration dangers
- angle grinder accidents
- exposed too much heat
- cuts on our fingers
- particles entering skin
- and many more!
According to the International Association of Drilling Contractors, hand and finger injuries are 43% of incidents on drilling rigs. So companies are trying to find ways to prevent this.
Different brands of tools are made to keep workers’ hands safe. They make it so that the worker’s hand does not get hurt. These tools can be used for pipes, catchers, handles, and more.
Machines have guards so people’s hands and fingers don’t get hurt. Guards can be broken, so it is important to check them often. This is why we always recommend using our TFT Milling Discs which allow the user to perform grinding and cutting tasks without kickback.
So you need to know where the dangers are before you start working and then figure out how to control them so that they don’t happen to you. We should try to keep employees from being exposed to risks in the workplace. We should not do things that are hands-on and if we can’t avoid it, then we should use something like gloves.
Wearing safety gloves is important because they can help keep you safe from cuts and other injuries. Some safety gloves have both of these properties, but most people wear them because they do not want to get cut.
What are cut-resistant gloves?
Cut-resistant gloves are made to withstand a cut. They are different from puncture-resistant gloves, which can withstand a piercing. You need to find what works for each situation.
There are different levels of gloves. These are based on the toughness of the material and how much protection it provides from blades or heat. Experts recommend that you buy gloves that protect your hands but still let you move your fingers enough to do things like hold a knife.
Cut-resistant glove standards
Prioritizing glove protection is important for companies worldwide. The European, Canadian, South American, and Asian countries follow the EN 388 standard to define their different levels of cut resistance.
The United States follows ANSI/ISEA 105-2016 which determines these standards. The United States Occupational Health and Safety Administration don’t specify cut resistance levels so it’s up to safety managers.
Types of cut-resistant gloves
Some of the most important types of cut-resistant gloves are made of the following materials:
Stainless steel gloves: Gloves designed for those who work with sharp objects are made out of stainless steel to prevent cuts, and the material is wrapped in polyester fiber. Several models have PVC on one or both sides of them so they will provide a better grip when holding onto things like metal poles.
Metal mesh gloves: The most popular user of metal mesh gloves is in the food industry, where anyone who uses a hand knife or cleans/moves a slicer blade should wear these. The cut-resistant glove can provide you with protection from cuts and punctures but they are neither 100% cut proof nor puncture-proof. Mesh glove manufacturers produce gloves by weaving the joining ring around four adjacent rings to make it as strong and safe as any other part of the material.
Spectra and stainless steel gloves: Many durable, abrasion-resistant gloves are made of a woven fabric blend of Spectra and stainless steel. This glove will keep your hands protected against cuts or slashes while also allowing you to complete difficult knife-wielding activities with ease due to its flexible construction that doesn’t sacrifice dexterity.
Standards for protection
There are two kinds of standards that help us determine which is a cut-resistant glove. The difference is merely geographical.
In North America, the ANSI/ISEA 105-2016 tests the strength of cut-resistant gloves by placing a metal strip on them and cutting through them with blades. The machine adds weight to determine how many pounds are needed for an effective cut in one swipe, repeated five times at varying loads depending on the material being tested. The test depends on the distance traveled and the load required to cut the material.
In Europe, a test sample is taken from the palm of a glove and cut on both sides by a rotating a circular blade. The ratio (number of cycles needed to cut through tested material compared with reference material) helps account for the loss in sharpness due to the cutting process.
Most people don’t know that the two glove tests, EN 388 and ANSI, are done differently. EN 388 is done using a rolling pizza cutter blade. It cuts through the glove with back and forth motions until it gets through.
The ANSI test is done with a razor blade. Different amounts of force are applied to see how long it takes to cut through the glove in slices like when you cut carrots into thin strips or cubes for salad.
Nevertheless, lab tests are not like the real world. For example, if there is a metal burr on the edge of some metal, it can catch on your glove and cause you to tear it.
There are a lot of efforts by oil and gas companies to stop people from getting hurt. Sometimes people still get hurt, though. Companies have to make sure they cover their fingers with gloves and wear other things that will protect them from getting hurt.
While technology has improved on oil and gas rigs, it also brings new risks. The most important thing to do is make sure that there are employee injury prevention programs that consider each and every way of protecting workers.
