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Thread: Gloves at work

  1. #1
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    Default Gloves at work

    Hi,

    As some of you know I've started a working at a big multinational manufacturing company recently. The division I work at manufactures machinery et.c for the mining sector using modern CNC machinery of all types right down to an old twin head drill press built in the 50's (we've even got a massive old shaper which I'm itching to use).

    Obviously with thousands of employee's in Australia they are very safety conscious. In the safety induction the three big things I picked up are:
    1. No 9" grinders (won't go there);
    2. Must wear cut resistance gloves at all times
    3. No personal knives on site - must use company issued non-fixed automatic retracting blades.

    The grinder restriction doesn't bother me. I asked about the gloves and the answer was the company has too many hand injuries (the same goes for the knife issue). You must by the book wear gloves all the time. That includes when milling or turning and off hand grinding. At first I was a bit hesitant then when I realized just how dirty everything is I wear the gloves all the time. Which for the first time ever I grabbed swarf coming off the lathe with my gloved hand instead of using the swarf grabber/hook. So I guess even though I know I'm a where of the danger of wearing gloves I still did something that could of really injured me.

    The knife thing is what really sh*ts me though. We have retractable safety knives where the blade retracts in 0.2 of second so you can't cut yourself or pretty much anything else! All we really cut is strapping material off crates/pallets. I see blokes using files instead of knives! The knives work like they're meant to for the first couple of days then it's hit and miss until you get a new. Changing the blades (Stanly type razor blades) is actually more dangerous than using the knife.

    Don't get me wrong, I believe in WHS and everyone should come home with all their fingers but sometimes I think WHS is just a tick the box exercise.

    Ben.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by bwal74 View Post

    sometimes I think WHS is just a tick the box exercise.

    Ben.
    yep, and unfortunately and in doing so they have making us to not think of our own safety

    OWHS has made a lot of consultants a lot of $$$, which begs the question...are these ideas and implementation of such just a way of creating another industry and hence employment?

  3. #3
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    I'm a firefighter and work in an industry full of SPO'S, standing orders and other safe work practices. It's our training and our safe work practices and allow us to enter an environment that is unsafe and reander it safe. Yet our industry (contrary to what you might think) is one of the safest you can work in (mining, agriculture and building industry statistically being the most dangerous).

    Don't get me wrong, some of our SOP's are also ridiculous and really makes thing more difficult than they need to be but over the last 100 years firefighting has gone from one of the most danderous occupations to one of the safest due to technology and work health and safety.

    I think OH&S is one of those areas that in some cases has swung too far the other way and in time will find a happy medium that will represent a good compromise between safety and workability. I think it's just a work in progress for now.

    Simon
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  4. #4
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    Many years ago I just started a new job, my first task was to use an electric bending machine to bend reo. Foreman gave me a pair of gloves and said make sure you use these at all times. Half an hour later one of the gloves got caught between bed and steel and got sucked in, my fingers included. I hurriedly stopped the machine and wriggled my fingers, as all appeared well I continued on with the job. Minutes later I pulled the glove off as it felt a bit wet inside and there was the tip of my finger pulled free of the bone. Off to the Doc and onto a month or so off work.

    Not bad, within one hour of starting the job I'm on compo for six weeks - all due to a glove. Never wear them now.

  5. #5
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    The one size fits all type of approach used by Work OHS is what gives me the tom tits. Gloves probably do reduce total numbers of workplace incidents but there has to be a way to look carefully at what different workers are actually doing before applying this sort of edict. A gloves for everyone rule will protect an office worker from slicing their hands when opening a carton of something but may not be appropriate when using some machinery.

    The most likely type of accidents most people will have in relation to work are vehicle related (40%) including driving to and from work, After that comes trips, slips and falls, except in the US where workplace violence is more likely. The most likely accident a DIY metal worker will have is driving to and from hardwares stores or steel merchants.

    This is from the US but shows that only ~1/4 of firefighter fatalities actually occur while attending at a actual fire.

    Screen Shot 2018-11-04 at 7.55.49 am.png

  6. #6
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    Have you ever noticed that it is often the same people having the same injuries repeatedly? People have an over reliance on PPE (it is the last step in the hierarchy of risk control) and an under reliance on thought before action.
    Gloves have caused as many injuries as they have prevented and often hard hats are worn for no reason. Yes, procedures help to keep us safe, but only if those procedures are written by people with real life experience as opposed to an academic who has never left their office. When working underground, I often found that procedures were written from the viewpoint of sounding like a good idea, but fell short of addressing the real issues and quite often they made a task more dangerous due to creation of a secondary issue caused by PPE. Quite often gloves created issues around the glove getting caught and dragging the hand in or as happened to me when grouting cable bolts, the prescribed chemical gloves held the cement against my skin causing chemical burns, whereas my preferred choice of fabric Ninja gloves protected my hands from abrasions but were easily flushed with water while working and never burned me.
    While it is not permissable in today's safety culture, natural selection would probably be the best solution for many recalcitrant workers.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karl Robbers View Post
    Gloves have caused as many injuries as they have prevented...
    Can you back that up with some stats Karl? I highly suspect it's not true.
    Chris

  8. #8
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    I used to wear steel toe capped boots, everytime I dropped a large piece of steel, it never landed on the toe section but on the instep.
    Have heard of peoples toes being amputated with toe caps.
    A case of horses for courses I think.
    Unfortunately, litigation has brought about a lot of the PPE issues.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  9. #9
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    Doubled up post.

  10. #10
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    My PPE consists of a pair of Crocs and a pair of reading glasses. Still have all seven toes and eight fingers.

    Cheers
    Cyclops.

    PPE - replacing natural selection.

  11. #11
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    In my early life involving Technical College (now TAFE) and metal working trades, the combination of gloves and grinders was strictly forbidden. It is so easy for a glove to catch between a tool rest and grinding wheel resulting in very serious injury, possible digital amputation. About the worst that can happen with a bare hand is an abrasion or burn. I think any company which dictates gloves to be worn while grinding needs some serious re-education of its management.

    Chas.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore View Post
    Have heard of peoples toes being amputated with toe caps.

    Kryn
    I was always told steel caps were designed to take your toes off when a heavy weight fell on them, made it easier to re-attach them or something like that. I was also told you shouldn't wear steel caps when riding motorcycles for the same reason.

    Our WHS guy at work (who is a really nice guy and means well) hasn't worked a day in his life on the tools and he's generally the one who buys our PPE (ie the safety knives).

  13. #13
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    Gloves can be very dangerous. There are times when you may lose a finger if not careful when not wearing them, but possibly the whole hand or worse, if you are.
    Nev.

  14. #14
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    I suspect the "never where gloves when doing X" harks back to the days when leather gloves were all that was available. They are very strong and I can well imagine they could do extreme damage to a hand if caught in a machine. However, there is now a huge range of glove materials available for just about every task. I use Ansell Sensilite gloves in my workshop for everything except the most intricate tasks.

    You can be sure companies wouldn't be handing out free gloves to their workers if there wasn't a safety benefit.
    Chris

  15. #15
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    Hi Guys,

    I've started to wear those thin disposable gloves recently, but only because they stop those horrible sharp metal whiskers from embedding themselves in your skin. And yes if you catch them on something, lathe tool in particular they just tear.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

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