If you need to order new safety work gloves, then you want products that are fit for your job needs. You should buy gloves that protect your workers and help them do their jobs. To save money, you should also buy hard-wearing products that don't need replacing too often.
Before you place an order, ask yourself the following questions. The answers will help you choose the right products.
1. What kinds of jobs do you do?
While some safety work gloves simply protect the hands with general coverage and some padding, others are designed for certain types of work. So, think about the jobs your workers do. What kinds of materials will they handle? How will their work affect their gloves?
For example, if your people handle chemicals, then they need gloves that keep these substances off the skin. Anyone who works with materials that might spark should wear flame-resistant gloves. If someone handles rough materials a lot, then gloves with abrasion protection and extra grip work well.
Your choice of products here doesn't just affect the safety and comfort of your workers, it also affects your bottom line. Specialist features, like chemical resistance and abrasion protection, keep gloves in better shape for longer. They won't get damaged or wear too quickly, so your replacement costs will be more manageable.
2. What is your working environment like?
Safety work gloves don't just have to protect hands, they also need to compensate for environmental factors. Working conditions and the weather play a part in your decision here.
For example, if your workers do a lot of outside jobs in hot weather, then you need to make sure that their gloves don't make their hands too hot. If gloves get sweaty, then they feel heavy and uncomfortable to wear; people will feel that their hands slip around inside them.
On the other hand, you need gloves that keep hands warm and dry in cold or wet conditions. People might lose some dexterity and movement if their hands and fingers are too cold. If water gets inside gloves, then they are hard to wear. They hurt the skin and affect hand mobility.
If you need to compensate for heat, then breathable and ventilated materials work well. Gloves that wick away sweat also help keep hands dry.
Waterproof gloves are useful if people work with water or wet materials, or if they might have to work in the rain. Thermal materials and padding are good for cold weather wear.
3. How long do your workers have to wear gloves?
If people need hand protection, then you need to ensure that they wear safety gloves at the right times and for the right amount of time. You might find it hard to persuade people to do this if they have to wear uncomfortable gloves for long periods.
Comfort typically becomes more important the longer someone has to wear work gloves. So, if you expect your workers to wear gloves a lot of the time, then look for products that will be easy on their hands.
Features like padding and cushioning increase comfort. Flexible materials stop the gloves from feeling stiff and cumbersome. If people have problems keeping gloves in the right position, then cuffs help hold them more securely in place.
Don't forget about fit here. Ideally, work safety gloves should be tight enough to stay on the hands without constricting movement or blood flow. People might have to take off tighter gloves more often to relieve stress in their hands and fingers.
Gloves that are too loose are also harder to wear. People don't want to have to focus on using their fingers and hands to keep the gloves in place.
For more advice on choosing safety work gloves, contact Ace Workwear. We stock a full range of gloves and accessories to suit both general and specialist jobs.