Tough, lightweight gloves combat chemicals

Tough, lightweight gloves combat chemicals

Keywords: Chemicals, Protective-clothing, Sentinel

The dangers of handling chemicals in the workplace and the need to adequately protect staff from the potential dangers is well understood. This awareness is largely due to regulations such as The Control of Substance to Health (COSHH)and The Personal Protective Equipment Code. However, experience suggests that where a hazard assessment has been conducted, regrettably many companies still fail to provide suitable gloves, resulting in damage to workers’ skin.

In a recent survey conducted by Sentinel Laboratories to over 2,000 officers regarding glove use, over 30 per cent were recommending inappropriate protective gloves. Often a glove had been considered suitable for an application, simply because it did not swell or dissolve. It is reported that in a number of cases reliance had been placed on using heavier weight gloves for more aggressive chemicals.

According to Sentinel Laboratories it should be clearly understood that all glove materials will eventually be permeated by a chemical with which it is in contact – eventually. The difference is in the breakthrough time and permeation rate of the glove to the chemical in use.

To help overcome these problems Sentinel Laboratories reports that it has introduced a glove that has been developed to be impermeable to most chemicals for a period of at least four hours.

Safety 4H gloves are fabricated from a special five layer laminate that has a combined thickness of just 0.065mm. This material claims exceptional protection against a wide range of industrial chemicals and mixtures.

According to the manufacturers, this claim is supported by the results from tests it conducted on over 280 chemicals, such as: chlorinated solvents,hydrocarbons, ketones, epoxy materials, pesticides and herbicides. Protection times achieved by the Safety 4H gloves for total immersion in certain chemicals exceed 24 hours.

The degree of protection provided by these gloves, however, is reportedly not at the expense of the glove weight and user comfort. Safety 4H gloves weigh less than 10 grams so they will not tire the user when worn for long periods. Also,as they are available in six sizes, a comfortable fit is assured. The laminate material contains no plasticizers or other leachable components that may affect sensitive skin.

It is thought that Safety 4H gloves can be recommended for situations where other gloves cannot offer the chemical protection required. This, it is believed, would enable the response team to start the clean-up process immediately, without the need to identify the chemical and a suitable protective glove.

Further details are available from Sentinel Laboratories Ltd. Tel: +44(0)1444 484044; Fax: +44 (0)1444 484045; E-mail: senlab@global.co.uk