Hand protection is a large section under the protective clothing umbrella of personal protective equipment (PPE). They are designed with the intention to ensure the safety of workers, operatives, visitors and others using either hardwearing reusable gloves or disposable gloves.
What is the importance of hand protection?
Hand protection products exist to prevent injury and/or harm to all parts of the hands, sometimes also covering wrists and forearms either partially or fully. There are different types of hand protection available depending on the tasks or hazards the wearer will be exposed to, such as high temperatures, chemically hazardous materials or sharp equipment.
Our range of hand protection products offers a variety of disposable gloves and reusable work gloves in different materials, pack sizes and glove sizes. With all of our products sourced from trusted brands such as BM Polyco, Ansell, Mapa Spontex and our own quality brand RS Pro, you can be confident your safety will be ensured.
Types of Gloves
- Leather gloves provide great protection for your hands, through durability, grip and insulation. Leather gloves are typically thicker and stronger than normal fabric gloves and offer higher levels of protection against hazards.
- Coated fabric gloves offer additional hand protection than cotton gloves against punctures, cuts and abrasives. The coatings of the gloves are usually PVC, Nitrile and Polyurethane, providing better grip when lifting and handling objects.
- Latex and Rubber gloves are the most commonly used throughout the medical and laboratory environments. These gloves are light and flexible, offering protection against hazardous and harmful substances. These gloves are typically disposable and don't offer any puncture protection, but do provide limited abrasive resistance.
- Kevlar gloves combine durability and lightweightness for a number of industrial applications. Kevlar gloves can be used under insulating gloves for hand protection in colder conditions to prevent punctures and keep the hands warm.
- Butyl Rubber gloves are the best choice when handling hazardous chemicals as rubber effectively resists harmful substances such as acids, peroxides, rocket fuel etc. They are very resistant to changes in temperature from hot to cold and can withstand several levels of abrasion.
- Puncture resistant gloves are specially designed to resist punctures from sharp objects. Related to the EN388 rating and rated from 1 to 4, with higher puncture resistance providing greater protection against needles, syringes etc.
