Disaster sites are a natural breeding ground for health and safety concerns, including severe injuries to fingers and hands. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that 70 percent of workers who injure their hands were not wearing work gloves during the accident. Likewise, many restoration contractors who injure a finger or hand during a disaster were not wearing hand protection. Often, the reasons for not wearing work gloves center around complaints of discomfort and lack of dexterity or mobility. Like 30 percent of workers today, even if disaster workers were wearing gloves, most likely the gloves “were inadequate, damaged or wrong for the type of hazard,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Fortunately, today’s safety gloves are engineered with technological advances that aid in extra protection, dexterity, durability and comfort.