Materials used for different types of Safety Gloves
Depending on the work environment, Safety hand glove use a variety of suitable material in their manufacturing process.
Lightweight Safety Gloves
Cotton safety gloves
At the basic level, fabric or cotton gloves are safety gloves types that may appear to be easily usable and comfortable also. They are useful to keep the hands clean while also offering some resistance against minor abrasions and scrapes. However, such safety gloves offer low protection against open flames, jagged materials, or puncture hazards. These could be, however, used as liners to be worn inside sturdier safety gloves.
Coated fabric safety gloves
For general usage, coated fabric safety gloves offer a greater level of resistance to punctures and cuts. These safety gloves offer protection against the alkalinity of concrete products. In addition, they have better chemical resistance. We can use a variety of materials for coatings, including nitrile, latex, polyvinyl chloride, and more. When it comes to insulation, such safety gloves offer less protection compared to uncoated safety gloves. However, even though they may offer some resistance to hazardous chemicals, they are unsuitable for use all the time.
Leather safety gloves
Leather safety gloves offer excellent grip and resistance against sparks. When it comes to sharp or abrasive surfaces, they offer robust protection. Wearing such safety glove types allows you to tolerate a moderate level of heat. Leather safety gloves are suitable for jobs that involve welding or friction from a rope, as they have been known to be quite suitable for those tasks. Even though they are usually durable, they tend to shrivel or harden on exposure to excessively high temperatures.
Chemical and Liquid Resistant Safety Gloves
Latex and Nitrile safety gloves
Laboratories and healthcare industries widely use latex and nitrile safety gloves in their applications. The material is known to offer protection against oils, grease, solvents, chemicals, and biohazards. Their form-fitting characteristics offer great dexterity when it comes to precision in handling objects. But when it comes to punctures or sharp and abrasive surfaces, such safety gloves offer little protection.
Butyl rubber safety gloves
Butyl rubber is useful in protecting against peroxides, strong acids, bases, aldehydes, and ketones. These safety hand gloves protect against a wide variety of chemicals.
Neoprene hand protection gloves
Neoprene safety gloves types are useful in protection against alcohol and oxidising agents, hydraulic fluids, phenol, glycols, and ether. These safety hand glove types offer a high level of pliability, finger dexterity, high density, and tear resistance.
PVC hand protection gloves
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) offers excellent protection against strong acids, bases and salts, and other water-based solutions. They can be used for immersion, and generally tend to offer less dexterity and sensitivity. However, safety gloves of such material tend to have poor tear resistance.
Thermal Proof Safety Gloves
Metal mesh or Aluminised safety gloves
Metal mesh or aluminised safety gloves are an excellent choice for resisting heat. These industrial glove types are suitable for undertaking tasks such as welding or working in a furnace and foundry. They are also suitable for use in laboratories where high-heat ovens are operated. Industrial safety gloves of these types are also useful in adapting to work that involves repeated cutting and slicing. The only negative point is that such safety glove types could be heavy and tend to restrain finger movement.
Kevlar safety gloves
Kevlar is a heat-resistant para-aramid synthetic fibre. The material can be used to manufacture safety glove types that are lightweight and durable while also offering excellent resistance to abrasions and cuts.
Cryogenic safety gloves
Cryogenic safety gloves are used to protect against cryogens and prevent tissue damage. They are ideally suited for handling cold containers and equipment. However, these industrial safety glove types are not suitable for immersion.
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Types of Chemical Resistant Safety Gloves to Protect Your Hands from Hazardous Chemicals
Type of risks that can be avoided by Chemical resistant safety gloves
Chemical resistant safety gloves protect worker hand from the range of risks associated with working in industrial setup. Most modern industries, especially manufacturing, construction, and service, rely on using some form of chemical substances. A worker is likely to be exposed to various types of chemical hazards. These could be classified as asphyxiants, irritants, corrosives, reactive, carcinogens, etc.
For example, carbon monoxide and cyanide fall in the category of asphyxiant. Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide are classified as corrosives. Similarly, nickel chloride and chromic acid are regarded as irritants. Chlorine and alkalies are in the category of sensitizers or allergens.
Every chemical substance has unique properties. Accordingly, different types of safety glove material are recommended. A hand protection glove with the greatest resistance to the chemical and the fastest breakthrough time remains a preferred choice.
A few scenarios may require donning double chemical-resistant safety gloves considering a single type of glove material would not provide complete protection. This necessitates the need to opt for two sets of hand-protection chemical safety gloves made from different materials. For instance, it could be a pair of chemical or acid-resistant safety gloves.
Also, hand protection chemical safety gloves are prone to damage and failure. This could be due to degradation or permeation from a few chemicals and damage from other sources.
Chemical Resistant Safety Gloves and Quality Features to Check
Thickness and Durability of Chemical resistant Safety Gloves
For general protection against chemicals, latex safety gloves are commonly used. But, when it comes to additional protection, or if there is a risk of abrasion for gloves, chemical-resistant gloves are required to be of a certain level of thickness. Such safety gloves can withstand exposure to various chemicals, which could be frequent.
For example, Kevlar is resistant to many chemicals and solvents. It is chemically stable under a wide variety of exposure conditions. However, a few strong aqueous acids, bases and sodium hypochlorite may cause degradation, particularly over long periods and at extreme temperatures.
Dexterity and grip of Chemical resistant Safety Gloves
When the chemical safety gloves are donned, they should not impair mobility. Chemical-resistant safety gloves with a suitable grip are essential for routinely handling chemicals.
The thickness of the safety glove is inversely proportional to the grip. That means a thicker safety glove would provide more protection but fail to provide a substantial grip. Finally, examine the glove lining. Knit and flock are the type of safety glove linings which are quite common.
Types of safety glove materials and range of different chemical resistance
Natural rubber latex safety gloves
They offer considerable flexibility and excellent resistance to quite a few alcohols or acids.
Nitrile safety gloves
Similarly, nitrile is a synthetic rubber that offers better protection against most solvents and greases, including oils and bases. Also, it extends a high level of resistance to abrasions and cuts.
PVC safety gloves
Then polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a synthetic thermoplastic polymer material that provides a good level of resistance against several acids, alcohols, bases and caustics. It has good abrasion resistance. It is suitable for manufacturing safety gloves while handling various acids and petroleum hydrocarbons.
Neoprene safety gloves
Neoprene is a synthetic rubber known to resist a broad spectrum of acids, oils, and solvents. It offers good heat resistance. However, the material offers lower resistance to punctures, snags, cuts, and cuts compared to natural rubber or nitrile.
Butyl safety gloves
Another synthetic material, butyl, offers a high level of resistance against concentrated acids and aldehydes. Being nimble and flexible at the same time ensures easy handling. It provides the highest levels of protection against water vapours and gas.
The fluoroelastomer material Viton offers good protection against chlorinated solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons. But when it comes to abrasions and punctures, it has a poor resistance level.
When it comes to a water-soluble synthetic material, polyvinyl alcohol (PVAs) delivers high resistance to chlorinated solvents and aromatics. When it comes to snags, abrasions, punctures, and cuts, PVAs remain perfect. However, being water-soluble makes them unsuitable for applications where water or light alcohols are utilized.
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Tips for Choosing the Right Hand Protection Gloves
As personal protection equipment (PPE), a pair of hand protection gloves should fit the user and suit the work.
Take, for example, leather safety gloves which have been part of labour-intensive and industrial jobs for a long time. Being puncture and cut-resistant, it’s also one of the few materials that resist moisture and heat. That is why they are perfectly suitable as construction work gloves and other occupations.
Similarly, nitrile safety gloves provide more strength and puncture resistance. That is why they remain a preferred choice in industries dealing with grease, oils, bio-hazards, and chemicals. Both latex and nitrile are best suited for medical practices and in the work of auto mechanics, among others.
Rubber safety gloves offer tactile sensitivity, good dexterity and suitable resistance against changes caused by exposure to acids, alkalis, salts and ketones. This makes them a preferred safety accessory in the construction, chemical, oil and gas industries.
On the other hand, metal mesh safety gloves, made of interlocked stainless steel mesh, offer advanced cut and puncture protection due to their superior strength.
Cut-resistant safety gloves, which include engineered, synthetic fibres such as Kevlarand Dyneema, offer 5-10 times the cut protection of leather. In addition, Kevlar extends better thermal protection against heat and cold, while Dyneema is extremely abrasion-resistant. Kevlar offers a high tensile strength that is five times stronger than steel. Dyneema fibres are engineered to be 10-15 times stronger than steel by weight, which makes them suitable for metal fabrication, electronics and the automotive industry.
Method for Finding Well-Fit Hand Protection Gloves
Hand Circumference Sizing Method
Measure the circumference of the hand around the palm area with fingers together and keep the hand relaxed. This measurement is in inches. It is closest to the actual safety glove size.
For example, a 6-inch is equal to a size 6 glove. Sizes are, however, likely to vary, taking into account various manufacturers as well as styles. Except when it is specifically mentioned, gloves are generally sized according to men's hands.
To gain an easy size comparison, check the list below:
Numerical size: 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10, 11
General size: XS, S, M, L, XL
Determining the Correct Length of Hand Protection Gloves
A simple technique to take stock of the correct length of the hand protection gloves is to measure from the tip of the middle finger up to where the cuff edge needs to be on the wrist or arm. Choose the right cuff and length based on this.
Also, checking the material, size, durability, and other parameters remains crucial before zeroing in on an ideal pair of hand protection gloves.
Identify the Application of Hand Protection Gloves, Assess the Hazard
Every working environment introduces its own set of hazards. For instance, in the oil and gas industry, workers are at risk of impact-related injuries, cuts on the fingers, knuckles or back of the hand as they are routinely required to handle sharp and abrasive objects, which could be oily and wet.
Similarly, the real estate and construction sector introduces the risk of work-related fatigue and involves maneuvering some heavy-duty machinery and hand-operated power tools. At times, exposure to certain chemicals could lead to irritation of the skin or eyes.
Take Stock of Risk Levels and Manual Dexterity expected of Safety Gloves
Primarily, there could be possibly three main hazards that need to be analyzed in any work environment: sharp objects, which could be dangerous equipment or broken glass, extreme temperatures, or exposure to hazardous chemical substances. At the same time, cut-related injuries could also be classified into three categories per severity: incisions, lacerations, and abrasions.
Similarly, the grip and fit of hand protection gloves remain equally important as material, density, and cut-level performance. For example, while thicker safety gloves are known to offer greater resistance to mechanical to chemical damage, the flip side is they could impair grip and affect manual dexterity needs in a particular job.
L&T-SuFin offers a wide range of genuine and branded safety gloves online. Checkout the website for more options.