Human hands are unique and essential assets. Hands are tools that many workers take for granted until they experience a severe injury or develop chronic skin problems. Hand injuries can vary from minor cuts to chemical irritation and even amputation.

Recommended actions to enhance hand safety:

• Identify hazards and equipment. On the job, there can be additional hazards and appropriate gloves available to protect you from those specific hazards, such as chemical, electrical, food service, healthcare, warehousing, and more.
• Motivate employees to use gloves. Showing care for employees’ safety by hosting formal and/or informal conversations to identify why they avoid the use of gloves, such as the comfort level and fit. Take the time to remove those barriers so that employees choose to wear gloves consistently and reduce hand injuries.
• Recognize or provide incentives to those who wear protective gloves correctly and consistently.
• Provide safety equipment. Management must provide safety equipment and proper training. Adequate supplies in a variety of types and sizes must be kept on-site to support employees who need them. Gloves should also be stored and maintained per the manufacturers’ recommendation. Glove use must be consistently encouraged by management and among fellow employees.

Resources on this topic can be found here:

• A good resource video about hand care can be found on RS SafetyTV
• SAFEME has a PPE module that includes glove use.

Rick Means, Director of Safety and Education, is available to help members with safety. Contact Rick at (360) 943-9198, Ext. 118 or [email protected].