The new safety rule about glove thickness is going to get someone hurt

Last week in Toledo, the foreman said we had to switch to the thinner 8-ounce gloves for 'better feel'... I dropped a hot riser and burned my hand through them. Has anyone else's shop pushed this and had problems?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew_wilson222mo ago

Wait, is the glove thickness really the main problem here? I've used thin gloves for years and never had a burn like that. Maybe it's more about the material or the fit being wrong for the job. Could be you just got a bad pair, or maybe you need a different type for hot stuff. Sometimes shops change things without thinking it through, but I doubt a rule change alone is gonna cause injuries.

aarons362mo ago

Yeah but a rule forcing thinner gloves across the board is a problem. It takes away the right tool for the job, and that's how people get hurt. My shop switched and we've seen more close calls already.

noahchen12d ago

@matthew_wilson22 you bring up a good point but I think it's part of a bigger thing I see everywhere. People assume one rule fits all situations and that's usually where things go wrong. Whether it's gloves or tools or even how we schedule work, stuff that works fine for one person or one job can be a total mess for another. That rule change might not mess up someone who does light work but for guys handling hot materials day in and day out it's a different story. The shop switching without testing it on the actual job is exactly the kind of shortcut that causes problems down the line.