Toolbox Talk: Cut Protection
Many cuts begin with a puncture. Cut-resistance tests are just one element of what needs to be considered. Often punctures are misreported as cuts. A sharp edge, corner, burr, or other protruding hazards can penetrate the glove and scrape or cut skin. With knit gloves, the hazard actually can poke through the open knit and cut the skin without cutting the glove.
So how does this happen? Depending on the density of the knit and gauge of the glove (the measure of the number of knitting needles per inch) and the thickness of the fibers, a glove may “window,” with the knit spreading apart, thus allowing a sharp point or blade to cut the hand. Plating with small guard plates can reduce this effect as the plates shield the knit structure from hazards. The plates also lock in the knit and don’t allow the knit to window.
Abrasion resistance also is a critical factor in preventing hand injuries. If a glove fails too early due to wearing through from an abrasive hazard, the skin is quickly exposed to cut hazards. So, the higher the abrasion level, the higher the level of protection from not just abrasion, but from cuts and punctures. Other factors include:
Wind-up risk: Some materials can be caught in machine parts such as rotating grinding wheels or drills and sanding materials. This can pull the hand or finger into the equipment and cause severe injury to tendons, muscles, and ligaments, and may even cause the amputation of fingers, hands, and arms. Protective gloves that prevent or reduce wind-up risks are available and can be used where risks are present.
Fit: Gloves that are too tight may be cut more easily, as many of the fibers used for cut resistance use a rolling action to increase cut resistance. When these fibers cannot roll, such as when they are stretched from an ill-fitting or wrongly-sized glove, they can lose some of their cut resistance. Take an example from the kitchen and do this simple experiment: Put a cucumber on a cutting board and take a very sharp knife. Try to cut the cucumber with a sawing motion without holding the cucumber. It just rolls and doesn’t cut. Now hold that cucumber and do the same thing. It cuts very easily. So, tight-fitting gloves can perform like the immobilized cucumber. Make sure your glove program accounts for proper sizing and that employees know what to look for when selecting gloves.
Coating: Coating impacts gloves that use cut-resistant fibers. Once the coating is applied, the rolling and twisting that helps the fiber achieve its cut resistance can be reduced. Most coated gloves have a higher cut resistance on the back of the hand than on the palm because the fibers are not coated. Keep this in mind as you select your hand protection.
Grip: Using a grip that isn’t appropriate for the job can lead to higher injury rates as objects with sharp edges can slip, causing a slicing motion on the gloves.
