Keeping your employees safe at work is all part of your legal duty of care, which states that you must take precautions to keep employees from harm while they are in the workplace. This extends to kitting your staff out with the correct PPE when they are regularly working in a hazardous environment, which cannot be controlled in any other way. Usually the PPE you require will be determined during your health and safety reports.

When considering PPE for your employees, work gloves can be one of the most difficult items to purchase. There are a huge amount of work gloves available on the market, so it can be tricky figuring out which are best suited to your workers and your workplace. But wearing gloves is one of the most important steps you can take to keep your team safe. We really rely on the full dexterity and movement of our hands to carry out our job roles on a daily basis, so any injury, sprain or strain can really take it’s toll on our ability to perform well at work. Making sure you get the right work gloves is not only beneficial to your employees, but also to your business.

What hazards do your employees face?

When considering which gloves are the best fit for your staff, you’ll need to first identify which hazards are present in your workplace. This will help you start whittling down which gloves are best suited. So let’s take a look at some of the most common hazards which require protection with work gloves.

Extreme Temperatures

If your team are regularly coming into contact with extreme temperatures, then work gloves can be a great way to protect them. Whether they’re working in icy cold temperatures, or working with searing hot materials such as when welding or working with glass, there are gloves suitable for both extremes.

For work in cold environments, such as freezer work, we’d recommend thermal gloves – otherwise known as Winter work gloves. Not only are these thermal gloves ideal for indoors work in low temperatures, but they’re also ideal for anyone working outdoors in the Winter time. Designed with a waterproof outer-layer and a cosy internal insulative layer. This clever combination will trap in much-welcomed heat, keeping your hands feeling warm and cosy all day long.

If you’re more concerned about extremely high temperatures, then consider heat resistant gloves. Usually made from fire retardant materials, these heavy duty gloves will keep you protected from even the hottest temperatures, as well as flames and sparks.

Dangerous Chemicals

Working closely with chemicals presents many dangers, but when you’re quite literally handling chemicals you need a pair of work gloves which are going to provide a safe barrier. There are quite a wide range of work gloves designed to protect the wearer from chemicals, so to begin with we recommend doing some research into the specific chemicals your workers will be handling. Chemicals are very unique compounds, and each chemical will react differently with different materials, so it’s always wise to be on the safe side.

Overall, if you’re looking for a glove which provides a good level of resistance to most known chemicals, then we would suggest disposable nitrile gloves. These rubber-like gloves are completely latex free and made from a naturally hypoallergenic material.

It’s also worth considering the length of work gloves when purchasing for anyone handling chemicals. We advise looking for gloves with a longer cuff on them, which covers the users wrists and potentially even some of their forearms. This is crucial for anyone handling highly corrosive chemicals.

Electric Currents

It goes without saying that working with electrical components or live currents is a dangerous job! Electricity presents a huge risk to your employees safety, so it’s crucial to provide them with the appropriate PPE to keep them safe. Work gloves for electricians tend to be made from non-conductive materials such as rubber or leather. Gloves made from these materials are the most appropriate work gloves for preventing electric shocks. It’s worth ensuring that whichever non-conductive gloves you choose for your employees, that they still allow for a good amount of dexterity and range of movement, as well as providing enough grip to hold small components and tools.

Water & Fluids

While water in itself is not going to cause any harm or risks to your employees, prolonged exposure can cause hands which are dry, cracked and sore. Whilst this isn’t something that might fall under your legal duty of care, you may still wish to provide your employees with protective rubber gloves, to improve overall team happiness and productiveness.

If your workers are in close contact with other people, perhaps they provide medical, dental or aesthetic services, then disposable gloves are essential to prevent cross-contamination. For these purposes we’d recommend latex or nitrile gloves as your best option. But be careful if you choose latex, as some clients may have an allergy to latex.

Cuts & Punctures

Working with sharp objects, machinery, or materials can be a risky job even for the most experienced and skilled workers. Which is why you’ll want to encourage your staff to always wear protective gloves while working – even if they’re just working on something for a short amount of time, accidents can still happen. Cut resistant gloves are a great way to prevent and avoid injuries in the workplace, and are intended for use with sharp tools such as saws and knives. It is worth noting that due to their heavy-duty nature, they can restrict movement slightly and will compromise dexterity, however this is a necessary trade off to reduce the risk of being seriously injured.

We hope you’ve found this guide useful while researching the right work gloves for your employees. Remember to double check size guides before ordering any gloves, as even the most robust and well-made gloves can fail to be fully effective if they do not fit the wearer correctly. At Pronto Direct we stock a wide range of work gloves, which are all available at bulk buy discounts – perfect for business owners looking to protect their entire workforce. Find out more about our bulk buy discounts here.