How to conduct a successful safety glove trial

The key to finding the right glove for the job is to look at the applications and tasks that are representative of most of the work being done. Select a glove that offers the necessary levels of comfort, protection, and dexterity for the most common, day-to-day tasks.

Although it is tempting to look for a one-glove solution, the reality is that a single glove can almost never meet all needs. If you outfit your entire workforce with a glove that is suited only to the easiest job, the most hazardous task, or the application that only occurs once a week or once a month, it may provide too little protection – or too much – for the work they’re doing every day.

This will have a negative impact on glove compliance, safety outcomes, and the overall effectiveness of your hand safety program. If necessary, offer a different glove for use with an extreme or unusual task. Most of the time it is best for workers, and for hand safety programs, to use a glove that offers the right level of protection for the work performed most often.

An audit of your existing glove solution will help you understand what is working, what isn’t, and where improvement is needed. Learn what your employees like about the gloves they use now. Find out where the glove isn’t meeting their needs. Identify any trade-offs between a new glove and the old. By collecting this information, you can work to ensure that the trade-offs are minimized and that any new gloves used in the trial offer the same features that your work crews have become accustomed to.

You can address any objections that may come up during the trial, selection, and implementation process. Knowing what your team likes and dislikes will help you find something better and explain how it is an improvement upon your old glove.

Having the right trial group will help you find the right gloves and also help get buy-in from the rest of the employees once a glove has been chosen and the new program is rolled out. Choose people for the trial crew who are serious about safety on the job and will provide honest and constructive feedback. Encourage them to share their experiences, personal preferences, and anything else that might be relevant to glove selection. Be clear that this feedback will help determine which gloves are ultimately provided to the entire team. Let them know that their feedback will be shared with the glove manufacturer and could result in product improvements.

Get an agreement from the group stating that they will provide written feedback as well as the glove samples at the end of the trial since both are needed to make the best decision. Provide feedback forms that are easy to use.

When you’ve reached the end of your field-testing period, collect all of the feedback forms and the gloves used in the trial. Give the trial crew a chance to offer verbal feedback, and record what is said. Record anecdotes and stories of any “saves” from accident or injury that occurred during the glove trial. Collect and review written feedback forms. Examine the trial glove samples and note their condition with regard to cut resistance and durability of the fabric. Include all relevant information in your report. Also, it is important to realize that the first glove or round of gloves tested may not fit your needs.

As you continue to try gloves, it might pay to revisit the specifics of various applications. For example, is there a fluid present that was not accounted for in your initial hazard and work environment assessment that could be causing premature failure or excessive wear? One goal of the glove-trial process is to uncover this type of information and address it with your glove selection. Add the new data to the application profile and hazards assessment as you select and field test the next glove solution.

Based on all the data collected after a successful trial, you can then narrow down and choose your gloves. There are several different specifications in gloves, including:

• Fibre type (e.g. protective tiles, nylon, etc.)
• Base weight
• Glove construction
• String knit, terry, etc.
• Coatings, dots, leather palms
• Ambidextrous (offers extended wear)
• Reinforced thumb saddle
• Cuff length
• Yarn size
• Glove sizing
• Cut resistance
• Reinforced thumb saddle (rating force and test method)
• Puncture resistance
• Abrasion resistance
• Needlestick resistance
• Other performance values required for the job (thermal testing, abrasion testing, etc.)