Glove Audit

Here at Dalton Safety we have the capabilities of conduction a full glove audit for our customers. A glove audit is an effective tool to help reduce injuries, reduce costs and consolidate your glove usage. More importantly, it contributes to compliance and due diligence for you and your company.

The main reasons why a glove audit is necessary:

  • Compliance
  • Due Diligence issues
  • Reduce Injuries
  • Lowering Costs
  • Consolidating gloves used and usage

Stage 1: Identify the hazard or activities/applications with potential to do harm

We carry out an assessment of Users, Environment, Tasks, Hazards and risk. This is usually a walk around the site, capturing information as we go along. Typically, this could be a joint visit with a distributor of PPE, and in most cases accompanied by a member of the Health and Safety team or the responsible manager.
Information to collect will also include what glove is currently being used, is the glove causing the user issues in completing their task, is the glove size correct and is the correct glove being worn for the task? More importantly, does the glove conform to EN Standard?

Who is at Risk?

  • Maintenance workers
  • Contractors
  • Drivers
  • Machine Operators
  • Assembly workers
  • Visitors

Significant Hazards

  • Chemicals
  • Microbiological agents
  • Handling sharp objects
  • Electricity (ESD, Atex)
  • Heat (Environment and handling hot objects)
  • Cold (Environment and handling cold objects)
  • Water (particularly handling wet objects)
  • Dirt, greases and oils

Stage 2: Once the assessment has captured activities, choose the right glove

From the information collated during the assessment, we will compile a detailed report of the findings, and offer recommendations where applicable. When selecting a suitable or more relevant glove prior to running a trial, consideration is given to:

What glove coating is required

  • Nitrile – excellent protection against grease, oils and many solvents. A good replacement to rubber, latex and vinyl
  • PU or Polyurethane – good for dry working, good grip, flexible and better for dexterity. Offers some puncture and cut resistance. Often used for fine and precision handling, or sorting small sharp parts.

Consideration of information collected

  • How many employees are wearing gloves?
  • What is your yearly expenditure?
  • Number of hand injuries: minor or major?
  • What types of gloves are currently being used?
  • Do the gloves conform to the latest industry standard?

What hazards were observed

  • Chemical (splash or immersion)
  • Heat / cold (specify temperature)
  • Cuts (using sharp tools, handling sharp edged objects)
  • Splinters (wood, metal)
  • Abrasion
  • Puncture
  • Oily or wet grip required
  • Dry grip required
  • Impact
  • Comfort
  • Fit
  • Size
  • Ergonomics

These are some of the questions that need answered to enable an effective solution
for specific applications.

 

Stage 3: Presenting a Solution

Now we present back our detailed report to the relevant stakeholders, explaining
step by step the information and observations made during the assessment.
This also gives the opportunity to demonstrate recommended alternatives, explaining the reasons for the selected glove, and the features and benefits of the glove for the users. Part of this process is to recap the EN standards for the proposed alternative. Once approved, a controlled trial can be carried out to test the performance of the glove with chosen users over a period of time.

 

Stage 4: Starting a Glove Evaluation Test

This is where glove samples that have been approved for testing, are given to
chosen employees to trial. Part of this process is where we explain to the user not
only the features and benefits of the glove, but to ensure they are wearing the
correct size and that the glove fits correctly for the task. It is also important to inform users that the glove conforms to the correct industry standards for the type of work they are doing, which should also be documented in the company Health and Safety risk assessment.

Providing an evaluation form for the users is important so they can document their
feedback of the glove for the likes of dexterity, grip, comfort, longevity, and to make
comparisons to the glove previously being used.

Once the trial is complete, the feedback forms can be evaluated together with the
distributor and safety team to analyse if the solution is correct or if a change is
required.