With the rising concerns about employee safety and infection, it can feel like everyone is asking questions about how to keep employees safe at work. Everyone wants to reduce the risks of injury and infection, but no one knows exactly how to do that. Even if you have answers to these concerns, they don’t mean much if you don’t have a plan in place. This article covers everything you need to know about using safety gloves with nitrile gloves.
What are Safety Gloves and Nitrile Gloves?
Safety gloves are latex gloves that are designed to offer better grip and better dexterity while doing tasks with a higher amount of pressure. They are designed to be used in high-risk environments where there is a higher risk of getting injured. Some of these situations include construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. You must protect yourself while doing tasks that have a higher risk of injury.
Many people refer to all latex gloves as nitrile gloves, but that isn’t accurate. Nitrile gloves are a type of latex glove that offers better resistance to chemicals. These gloves are commonly used in medical and scientific settings.
Why is Maintaining Safety with Nitrile Gloves Important?
When you work with latex gloves, you are exposed to the latex proteins that are found in latex. These proteins are an irritant, and they can cause an allergic reaction in some people. People who have allergies to latex may experience symptoms like redness, swelling, and itching at the site of exposure.
Moreover, latex proteins can cause an infection, called latex hypersensitivity syndrome. This is an immune response to the proteins in the latex, causing a reaction in the body similar to that of an infection. For both of these reasons, it is important to use latex-free gloves to help protect yourself from latex proteins and latex hypersensitivity syndrome.
When using latex gloves, it is important to wear gloves that are made from natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or other non-latex materials. You can also use vinyl gloves to eliminate the risk of exposure to latex proteins or latex hypersensitivity syndrome.
Key Things to Consider When Purchasing Safety Gloves
Whenever anyone purchases safety gloves, it’s a good idea to consider these five factors that can make or break your purchase.
- Type of Material – You want to make sure that the gloves that you purchase are made from natural or synthetic materials. Natural rubber gloves are preferred for latex-sensitive workers, and synthetic rubber gloves are preferred for handling all types of chemicals.
- Thickness – The thickness of the gloves can make a difference in terms of protection and sensitivity. If you are handling food products or other sensitive materials, you want to make sure that you get gloves with a thickness that is appropriate for the task that you are performing.
- Fit – When it comes to hand protection, you want to make sure that the gloves that you purchase fit properly. This means that you want them to end just above your knuckles, if they don’t fit properly, they won’t offer the protection that you need and they can be uncomfortable as well.
- Washing Instructions – If you are purchasing latex-free gloves, you want to make sure that they are machine washable. If you can wash them in a regular washer, that would be even better.
- Price – Of course, you want to make sure that you get the best price for the gloves that you purchase. You don’t want to purchase gloves that are too expensive or too cheap.
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