Page 28 - Occupational Health & Safety, April 2018

HAND PROTECTION
Hand Protection—Beyond the Glove
While hands may be protected with gloves, arms without proper protection are vulnerable to cuts, abrasions, and burns. BY M.B. SUTHERLAND
22 Occupational Health & Safety | APRIL 2018
www.ohsonline.com
You identify a job hazard, decide on the proper PPE to protect against it, give it to your workers, and no one ever gets injured again. It’s a nice story, but if it were that easy, you’d have a lot more time in your day. Safety is com- plicated, and worker behavior can be unpredictable. New technologies and products on the market now give you more options than ever before to help keep your people safe and comfortable, but are you provid- ing everything your workers need?
While 5 percent isn’t a major piece
of the pie, it still represents a large number of impacted workers, record- ables, and lost dollars—many of which might be avoided with the addition of protective sleeves.
Thinking Beyond the Glove and Up the Arms
We talk a lot about hand injuries and the gloves that can help to prevent them. But an area that often gets overlooked is your workers’ arms. Too often, we fail to consider that arms are vulnerable to many of the same
Routine tasks such as moving items in and out of bins can become hazardous if workers have to reach into barrels or other receptacles that contain sharp
materials.
hazards that cause workers to need a glove. According to the National Safety Council, hand-related accidents accounted for more than 13 percent of injuries involv- ing days away from work in 2017. Arm injuries ac- counted for nearly 5 percent of injuries. And while 5 percent isn’t a major piece of the pie, it still represents a large number of impacted workers, recordables, and lost dollars—many of which might be avoided with the addition of protective sleeves.
When deciding if gloves alone are sufficient or if your workers need sleeves, take a look at what move- ments are involved in the job. Often workers need to reach over or under machinery, shelving, or other rough materials to complete a task. So while hands may be protected with gloves, arms without proper protection are vulnerable to cuts, abrasions, and burns. Routine tasks such as moving items in and out of bins can become hazardous if workers have to reach
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