Right glove becomes wrong glove when worn too long
This safety trainer blogs that he’s seen workers take weeks or months to replace gloves designed to resist particular chemicals for hours.
Yikes.
Read the technical information carefully for any chemical-resistant gloves that you buy and as they say in commercials: Use only as directed.
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January 30th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Mike does a nice job of pointing out that there are THREE key factors to consider with chemical gloves. Degradation, Penetration and Permeation. Even though a glove looks fine, it can be past its prime.
Degradation is the easiest of the three factors to spot, because it is usually obvious. It might be a crack or a spot that’s thinner than the rest of the glove; or perhaps, if the glove is layered, there’s a color change - all of which are easy to see.
Degradation isn’t always the result of overuse. It can happen even if gloves are “new.” Some polymers can degrade in as little as 6-8 months - sometimes less if they’re stored in humid or hot conditions. If your facility buys in bulk, but doesn’t cycle through gloves quickly, any savings gleaned from buying in bulk could easily be lost in wasted product.
Workers need to be properly trained to inspect their gloves each day (or before each use, if appropriate) for signs of deterioration. OSHA requires the employer to establish proper procedures to protect their workers. Teaching them how to look for signs of degradation is part of that protection.
Workers may not realize that a “small” crack is a big problem. And even if they know to look for degradation, they may be reluctant to bring the problem to someone’s attention or to ask for a new pair of gloves, especially in hard economic times. Employers need to let workers know that they don’t expect gloves to last forever, and if they get “x” hours, days, weeks, months (or whatever the expected longevity is) out of them, it’s time for a new pair.
Penetration is a little more difficult, because sometimes it’s a tiny pin prick that isn’t highly visible. However, like degradation, once that pin prick happens, the glove is shot. Taping over the hole doesn’t cut it. It’s time for a new pair.
Permeation is something that is a lot more difficult to determine because it happens on more of a molecular level. Fortunately, many glove suppliers have tested a wide variety of chemicals with their glove polymers and have published permeation rates so that employers can establish proper guidelines and procedures.