Gloves can protect valuable hands from cuts and scrapes
No matter what kind of work your employees do at your business—from driving a vehicle to studying a culture under a microscope—they’re always using their hands.
This is probably why the hands require more medical attention than any other body parts. Every year approximately one million workers are treated at hospital emergency departments for hand injuries.
Hand injuries are seldom life-threatening, but in total they account for eight percent of all workers’ compensation claims in the U.S.
Two out of three acute hand injuries involve cuts and are often linked to recently sharpened tools, equipment not working as expected, or new methods of doing the task.
Workers most at risk for hand injuries include agricultural workers, employees in food handling businesses, healthcare workers, and anyone using in cutting, tearing, sawing, or puncturing materials used at work. Machinery with defective parts, broken metal or glass can also result in cuts that require medical attention.
The good news is that wearing gloves can reduce hand injuries by 60 percent, according to one study. Close-fitting latex gloves protect from cuts and are good for maintaining the feel of the work being done, but one percent of workers are allergic to latex. More expensive allergen-free gloves latex-like gloves are available.
Depending on the job, gloves made of light-weight cotton, heavy cloth, canvas, or leather may be good choices to help keep your workers' hands intact.
Copyright © 2008 by Griffith Publishing 800 359-9503
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