How soft are your hands?

In my youth, “hands that do dishes could be as soft as your face” if you used Fairy washing up liquid. Now whilst this may be the case for a short time, probably more due to the effect of warm water, long term exposure to any type of detergent and/or water will cause skin issues, possibly even Dermatitis. This is not a pleasant condition and should be avoided at all costs, so ensure all workers who have regular exposure to water use gloves that are to the EU Standard EN374-2, which essentially proves that the gloves are waterproof.

But what about other trades and conditions. How do you ensure that you are wearing the right gloves for the job?

There are six standards of protection attributable to gloves which measure the “permeability” of the material they are made from. The lowest level, class 1, will let some substances through in 10 minutes, whilst the highest class 6 ones will last 8 hours.

Also remember the other factors:

• Do they fit properly?
• How long will they be used for?
• Will the task damage them by puncturing or ripping?

Clearly you need to look closely at what gloves are right for the job you are doing.

Further information can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/gloves.htm