Page 79 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2018

Fibers
Description
Notes
Dyneema® Fiber
A super-strong Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMwPE) fiber that is sold only to licensed factories and licensed glove companies.
Cooler, cost-efficient, and provide superior cut protection without adding fiberglass or stainless steel. Comfortable for all-day wear.
Dyneema® Diamond Fiber
Embedded micro-particles strengthen fibers by up to two times, for higher cut scores.
Outperforms HPPE gloves and is more durable, plus it offers greater abrasion resistance than gloves with fiberglass or other aramids.
Polyester
A monofilament yarn has just one, single polyes- ter fiber that is usually not twisted. Spun yarns are produced in much the same way as cotton or wool yarn is produced.
Polyester is very durable and resistant to most chemicals, stretching, and shrinking, wrinkle resistant, mildew and abrasion resistant.
Nylon
Nylon blends are man-made fibers that are combined with other synthetics or natural fibers to make a breathable, stronger, and flexible ma- terial. Nylon varies in its luster and can be very lustrous, semi lustrous, or dull. It is very resilient. (Nylon fabrics are heat-set.)
It has a low moisture absorption rate, good tactile sensitivity, and dexterity and abrasion resistance. Used in wet and dry environments.
HPPE
(High Performance Polyethylene) same as HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) or UHMwPE (Ultra- High Molecular Weight Polyethylene.) Most of these yarns are made in China.
Low cost and provides cut protection at A2-A3 levels.
HPPE with Fiberglass
Same high performance polyethylene with fiberglass.
Increases hand protection to levels above A3.
HPPE with Stainless Steel
High performance polyethylene that is inter- twined with stainless steel.
This combination yields excellent cut protection up to A5 or higher.
Aramid
An engineered yarn that is the generic version of Kevlar but does not require a license to sell.
Aramids have similar properties to Kevlar.
Kevlar®
An engineered yarn by DuPont®. This yarn can be easily identified because of its distinct yellow color.
Gloves made of this yarn are fire resistant and offer high cut protection levels.
Kevlar® with Lycra
Offers better stretch for the glove. The percent- age of Lycra in the glove affects the cut protec- tion level of the glove.
If the percentage of Lycra is higher than the percentage of Kevlar, the cut protection of the glove will be lower.
tection are immense and varied.
Astronauts know that NASA has chosen their spacesuit and
gloves with methodical and scientific reasoning. After all, the astro- naut’s life depends upon it. Safety professionals should specify hand protection with methodical and scientific care in order to choose the perfect glove for the worker in his or her job environment.
Providing workers with the right gloves for the application will motivate them to willingly wear their gloves. The safety profession- al’s understanding of the importance of glove form, function, and fit leads to accurate glove selection and increased worker compliance.
Form: What is Your Glove Made of? Materials, Fibers, and Coatings Materials
When selecting hand protection, safety professionals must con- sider the material of the glove. Ideally, the material should provide comfort, the appropriate protection for the task, and dexterity. Common glove materials include natural leather, synthetic leather,
and fabric gloves that are machine stitched.
Natural leather comes from cow, goat, or pig. It is soft to the
touch, tear resistant, durable, and has high tensile strength; how- ever, like human skin, it doesn’t provide high levels of cut resis- tance. Synthetic leather has similar properties to natural leather but is man-made.
There are many synthetic and natural fibers that are used to make fabric glove shells. Glove shells are knitted on a flat head knit- ting machine and are measured by the gauge (ga) of the shell: The smaller the gauge, the thicker the shell. Seven gauge is the thickest shell and 18 gauge is the thinnest, lightest-weight shell. If dexterity is of paramount importance, then you will need to select a glove with a high gauge.
Fibers
Just as our hands are made of tendons, ligaments, bones, and nerves, glove shells are composed of fibers. Not all fibers are cre- ated equal, and picking the wrong fiber for your glove is a common error in fabric glove selection. Two primary types of fibers are fila-
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JUNE 2018 | Occupational Health & Safety 75