Page 36 - Occupational Health & Safety, November 2018

HAND PROTECTION
manufacturing process involves large cop- per tubes called hairpins that are stored in industrial-sized pans of oil.
“Workers take the big copper hairpins out of the oil and put them into a machine,” Campbell explained. “The oil just dissipates off the [new palm coating]. So even with the oil, they have great dexterity and grip.”
The tough coating also offers excep- tional abrasion resistance that has tested at more than 50 percent better than foam nitrile and more than 60 percent better than sandy nitrile. As much as 30 percent lighter than other double-dips, gloves with this coating are extremely flexible and feel much like single-dip polyurethane coated gloves, so they’re ideal for handling small parts, even in the slipperiest environments.
Campbell said that in the past, the HVAC workers were double-gloving with a nitrile glove under a Kevlar string knit glove and changing two to three times a day due to oil saturation. The crew tried a polyurethane-coated glove, but it lasted only about an hour before the work chewed through the coating. As of our interview, Campbell reported workers were on day
21 and counting with their samples of the new gloves. Workers even have taken their gloves home and washed them because they didn’t want to give them up. She added that assembly workers were able to pick up very small nuts and washers while wearing them.
Manufacturers are recommending this coating particularly for metal stamping and fabrication; automotive; appliance manu- facturing; HVAC; and metal handling.
Campbell also recommended the new palm coating to a water heater manufac- turer. High cut resistance and good grip in oil are essential to this job because workers have to hold and bend large metal sheets with sharp edges that are eventually joined together to make the outer metal covers of
water heaters. With their old palm coating, workers went through three pairs of gloves per day. The new coating gave them about three days of wear for each pair of gloves.
‘This is Something Different’
Sarah Anderson, safety product expert at Magid, said that this new coating will be ideal for more than just jobs that involve heavy liquids or oils.
“This new technology is also a good option for dry grip in highly abrasive envi- ronments,” she said. “It creates a glove that’s light but has higher abrasion resistance for any environment. Usually, to provide abra- sion resistance and eliminate liquid pen- etration, you need a thicker coating. Now we’re doing that with a lighter material. This is new in terms of the benefits it’s going to deliver. This is something different!”
M.B. Sutherland has been writing for busi- ness and news outlets for more than 20 years. She’s the Sr. Safety Writer at Magid—proud U.S. manufacturer and distributor of head- to-toe PPE since 1946. For information, visit magidglove.com or call 800-444-8030.
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