By: Superior Glove, leading safety glove innovator
While there is no shortage of safety gloves on the market, workers are still getting injured. In fact, hand injuries are the highest recorded and most common across all industries. Not only do these injuries have physical and mental costs for workers, but they are also expensive in terms of lost productivity and wages.
Why are hand injuries so common? Believe it or not, the answer isn’t simply wearing gloves. PPE isn’t even the first line of defense in preventing workplace injuries.
How Superior Glove Got It Right
We worked with companies that have reduced hand injuries by 50%, even 90%. Working on-site with the safety managers and workers, we realized that the success of a hand safety program is rooted in the model of creating a safer work culture across the company by reevaluating and redesigning the existing safety measures.
Six Steps to Hand Safety
Superior Glove’s Hand Safety Program follows six steps to help reduce and eliminate hand injuries. While there is no cost to it, there is a commitment to the process that will determine the success of the program.
Step 1. Discovery
Define Hand Safety Goals and Review Current Injury Statistics
We collaborate with the safety manager to assess if our program suits your requirements. We use a questionnaire to gain insights into your existing hand safety practices and your desired goals.
The discovery phase enables us to understand the unique challenges the company faces and whether Superior Glove can help achieve your goals.
Step 2. Assessment
Conduct Hazard Assessment and Provide Recommendations
We conduct on-site visits to assess the working conditions of the facility. We collaborate with safety managers, supervisors, and employees to voice their questions and concerns and see if they are using the correct gloves for their specific hazards. Looking beyond just PPE, we assess safety measures at each stage using the hierarchy of controls. This includes elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE as the last line of defense. At this stage, we also take glove measurements in preparation for our PPE trail.
Step 3. Report
Hand Safety Action Plan
Findings from our workplace assessment help us create a detailed action plan that includes appropriate recommendations for the PPE trail (Step 4) and actionable steps that can help improve your safety culture. With some flexibility—and depending on the individual company size and structure—this step can be conducted alongside the assessment phase (Step 2) or PPE trail (Step 4) to ensure a seamless integration of the hand safety program.
Step 4. PPE Trial
Implementation of the Hand Safety Action Plan
At the core of our hand safety program is the PPE trial. Two to three weeks after the company assessment (Step 2), employees get the opportunity to put their gloves to the test and measure glove performance and comfort while handling tasks on the ground. Along with their sample gloves, employees are given an evaluation sheet to provide feedback on what worked and what can be improved. At the end of the PPE trail, we also collect the provided sample gloves.
Step 5. Evaluation
Measure Results Against Company Goals
All discoveries and feedback gathered during the previous steps are used to measure results versus the company’s hand safety goals. This includes testing the sample gloves provided during the trial stage for durability and longevity. This evaluation report highlights the results from the PPE trial and assessments made during the on-site visits. The report is shared with safety managers and supervisors who can use it to make appropriate PPE changes and determine where they can remedy a hazard using other measures detailed in the hierarchy of controls.
Step 6. Launch
Get Ready to Reduce Hand Injuries
The step can mean different things, depending on how your company plans to utilize the hand safety program to your advantage. We can work with your distributors to supply the appropriate PPE based on our hand safety evaluation. We also offer hand safety training around gloves that can benefit your teams in making the most out of their PPE. Whatever route you choose, Superior Glove aims to not only provide high-quality and durable PPE, but also support your company goals in maintaining a culture of hand safety that protects workers and boosts productivity.
Next Steps
Ready to reduce hand injuries? Start by building a hand safety culture to keep your workers safe. Get in touch with a Superior Glove hand safety expert for a free 1-on-1 consultation to get your hand safety program started!