Don’t Get Caught Out on Safety Glove Standards: 3 Big Mistakes to Avoid.

Workplace safety is complex and is regulated by government legislation and various codes of practice for work health and safety (WHS) risks such as that administered by SafeWork NSW.

Liability is placed on Employers and any Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) to eliminate or reduce workplace risks and hazards to the maximum extent possible to ensure safety at work for their teams.

An essential component of WHS compliance is the provision and correct usage of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all workers in the conduct of their jobs.  PPE is necessary to provide a physical barrier offering a degree of protection between a worker and any workplace risks and hazards related to their particular job function and activities.  URSafeRite is an industry leading safety vendor with solutions for every workplace application and can provide you with expert advice for appropriate PPE to reduce the risk of workplace injuries and ensure workers are safe, comfortable and effective in the performance of their jobs.

However, not all PPE is created equal!  When selecting the most appropriate and effective PPE to protect safety at work it is vital to consider product quality and the particular performance standards that may be applicable to the category of PPE for each job type.  Most categories of PPE will have associated safety product standards that provide important guidance and assistance to help determine the selection of products most suitable for effective workplace safety.  Bodies such as Standards Australia oversee specific product performance criteria covering a range of PPE to ensure products are safe, consistent and reliable.

Safety gloves are one of the most effective and essential components of PPE to help ensure safety at work since our hands are integral to most daily activities and also one of the most exposed and vulnerable parts of the human body.  Yet the product standards associated with safety gloves are often overlooked or misunderstood by workplace health and safety personnel when deciding between the many different types of gloves on the market and the safety suppliers who are offering them. URSafeRite's Safety Site Assessment indicates that up to 50% of work sites inspected for new customers are using some sub-standard gloves providing inferior or little effective protection for their workers, before engaging with us to recommend solutions for correctly specified gloves that meet appropriate product standards and certifications.

Using our specialist professional advice to help you choose the best hand protection for your needs, we can ensure you don’t make these 3 Big Mistakes regarding product standards for your PPE safety gloves purchases:

1. Cheap is cheerful. This is the biggest mistake many buyers commit by purchasing the very cheapest basic safety gloves they can source for their workers.  Often these inferior gloves will have no appropriate product standards marked on them.  As a result, the gloves being used in these workplaces are frequently poor quality, wrongly matched to workers job functions, and wear out much faster than they should.  So called “cheap” gloves with little or no appropriate product standards mean that protection for workers is reduced against workplace risks, and also business spend actually increases over time as inferior gloves wear out faster and require replacement more often.  URSafeRite’s extensive range of Hand Protection provides guaranteed quality and value for money to ensure you don’t commit this big mistake.
2. Standards aren’t known. Another common mistake is lack of knowledge by WHS personnel about the product standards applicable to safety gloves and how to decide which performance standards are most relevant to their workplace safety programs.  Workers may be using gloves that have standards markings however in many cases the specific performance criteria indicated by the markings are not the most appropriate to each job function.  Consequently, these workers are not provided with suitable gloves to adequately protect their hands against workplace hazards and risks during the performance of their duties.
3. Standards aren’t checked. Even when the correct selection of gloves and associated standards markings is done, it is a mistake frequently made by Employers and PCBUs not to check and verify the product standards marked on safety gloves against relevant documentation from the supplier including product data sheets and certificates.  URSafeRite’s range of Hand Protection is covered by verified product certification in relation to all marked product standards including our own SafeRite® brand range as per Safe Work Australia and other relevant work health and safety compliance standards and regulations.           

Contact URSafeRite today for specialist professional advice regarding safety glove standards so that we can help you choose the best hand protection for your needs and maximise safety at work for your team.