Progressive Distributor - Fit, form, function

Fit, form, function

by Rich Vurva

Glove makers are seeking the right balance to produce hand protection that workers want to wear

Hand protection has come a long way since the days of brown jersey work gloves. Manufacturers are using new technology and materials that balance dexterity, comfort, breathability and grip. The objective is to create gloves that workers will wear all day.

“Manufacturers are making them better and combining the performance factor with the comfort factor. There are more hand injuries caused by the failure to wear gloves than the failure of the glove itself. That’s where the comfort factor comes in,” says Richard Rivkin, president of Saf-T-Gard International, a Northbrook, Ill., safety distributor and private brand manufacturer of hand protection products.

Imagine a mechanic in an industrial application drilling a hole into metal one minute and then fastening a bolt into that hole. He can’t pick up the bolt with his leather palmed work gloves, so he removes the gloves.

“When people have to take their gloves off to do their job, that’s when they get hurt,” says Robin Roberts, vice president of sales for Protective Industrial Products. “Our intention is to provide gloves that someone can put on in the morning and not have to take off until they take a break.”

New technologies available in gloves today have created obsolescence in virtually every type of glove, Roberts says. That creates an opportunity for distributors to recommend that customers reevaluate their hand protection programs. There’s a good chance new products on the market can replace gloves that companies have been issuing to their employees for years.

To illustrate how quickly the industry is introducing new gloves that outperform older styles, Roberts says 20 percent of PIP’s sales are in products introduced within the past three years.

“The growth rate in sales of these new technology products is substantially greater than in traditional products,” he says.

Rivkin agrees that hand protection offers good sales growth potential.

“As new technologies are developed that provide value, it’s incumbent upon us and everybody in the safety industry to get that word out to the customer base. There are better ways to do things to make sure workers go home safely every night.”

New technologies
Today’s performance gloves use natural and man-made materials engineered into a system built for comfort, dexterity and protection. Many incorporate seamless construction for greater dexterity and breathable materials to keep the wearer’s hands dry. The end result: they’re less bulky and more comfortable to wear than traditional leather or cotton gloves.

A leather work glove is like a pair of jeans, Roberts says. They’re most comfortable right before you have to throw them away, after they’ve been broken in.

“Today’s gloves don’t require a break-in period. They’re ready to wear. That’s an amazing leap in wearability,” he says.

Manufacturers often apply latex, rubber or nitrile coatings or use a mix of materials to provide the proper protection for the intended task. For example, an assembly worker might prefer the comfort and dexterity of a seamless knit nylon glove where only the palms and the fingers are coated with polyurethane or a nitrile foam coating for added abrasion resistance.

Coatings on the palms of gloves not only provide abrasion resistance, it also improves grip, which reduces the amount of pressure a worker has to apply to hold a tool. A study at the University of Birmingham in England showed that workers who used a new glove technology directing fluids away from the surface of the glove required 34 to 69 percent less grip force to lift a 10-pound object. The tests suggest the new gripping technology increases safety by reducing the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome.

With old-fashioned leather or cotton work gloves, no matter what workers are doing, sooner or later they’ll take the glove off to gain a tighter grip.

“With today’s new grips, and the lack of seams, the pressure that you have to exert with your hands is so much less than with the bulky gloves workers used to wear,” says Roberts.

High-tech performance fibers
Some manufacturers use Kevlar brand fibers in their gloves for added strength, cut resistance and durability. PIP incorporates Dyneema brand polyethylene fibers into some of its gloves. These ultra-tough, high-performance fibers are up to 15 times stronger than steel and more durable than polyester. They’re also more comfortable to wear.

“These gloves are knitted by machine using extremely fine strands of yarn. They have super-thin coating and tremendous durability, so they provide a level of comfort and dexterity far superior to anything we’ve ever seen,” says Roberts.

Palms may feature reinforced padding materials to help absorb shock and dampen vibration. Some gloves leave the thumb or fingers exposed for fine-touch tasks or reinforced fingers for greater durability. Glove makers are also doing a better job than ever of making gloves in a wider variety of sizes to fit both men and women.

“With the diversification of the work force, it requires gloves that fit better. New technologies such as knitting gloves and then putting specialized coatings on them, are seeking to achieve that combination of performance and comfort at a value that makes sense to the buyer,” says Rivkin.

The price of protection
More specialized gloves come with a higher price tag, of course, but the gloves typically last longer than traditional cotton or leather work gloves. Many can be laundered and reused multiple times before wearing out.

Many employers interested in reducing workplace injuries are willing to pay a higher price in order to lower their workers’ compensation costs. A study performed by a Midwest glass manufacturer demonstrated a 66 percent decrease in hand injuries after the company mandated use of synthetic leather work gloves for all employees. The change saved the company $1.25 million annually in workers’ compensation premiums.

At an estimated cost of more than $4,000 per lost workday incident, fitting workers with more comfortable work gloves makes good economic sense. According to the most recent government statistics, occupational injuries to the upper extremities, including the fingers, hands and wrists, account for nearly 25 percent of all reported injuries. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 1.2 million lost-workday occupational injuries, with more than 290,000 of those being injuries to fingers, hands and wrists.

Distributors that work closely with suppliers to learn more about the newest hand protection products on the market can play a part in reducing work-related injuries.

“Hand protection is a highly visible product. It’s still one of the greatest opportunities to be of service and add value to our customers,” says Rivkin.