In safe hands

Employers may understand that protecting workers is essential to productivity and well-being but construction workers need to be made more aware of safety and risks on construction sites, says Ansell Healthcare’s Agnès Berthault.

“Education remains critical as workers tend to use inadequate hand protection in a high proportion of cases”
-Agnès Berthault

Although the building and construction industry in the UK is said to be one of the safest in Europe, one third of all work fatalities happen in this sector. In the UK, the cost of occupational accidents accounts for an astonishing 8.5 percent of construction project costs. According to Eurostat- European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW), the "upper extremities" (hands and arms) are the parts of the body most injured, accounting for 43.2 percent of all non-fatal accidents at work. In Europe 38 percent of construction injuries are on hands (51 percent on fingers). Some 26 percent of injuries are hand injuries and cuts are the first amongst them.

Today more and more employers understand that protecting their workers against falls, cuts, musculoskeletal strain, harmful chemicals and harsh environmental conditions is essential to productivity and well-being. But, despite the fact that major players in the industry have understood this and have introduced intensive training and quality products, research indicates that a large majority of construction workers do not wear work gloves while performing their jobs. And those who are provided gloves by their employers often complain that they cannot work in them. Moreover, construction workers still choose leather gloves more than any other type of glove despite the fact that leather gloves do not offer very high cut protection and age very poorly.

Construction workers need to be made more aware of safety and understand the risks on construction and building jobsites. Effective hand protection in the form of safety gloves constitutes a key component of PPE (personal protective equipment) for the construction industry. Along with safety helmets, eye protection, protective footwear, safety harnesses and protective clothing, gloves complete the panoply of PPE. Ansell's synthetic (nitrile) gloves offer new options in high-performance work gloves engineered to fit the specific needs of construction professionals.

Construction has a wide range of jobs and applications. To respond to this complexity, Ansell has determined a comprehensive range of products that are adapted to the majority of jobs and risks and therefore make things simple. Overall, cuts are the number one injury in construction; they concern almost all construction trades: carpenters, masons, painters, tilers, roofers, plasterers and labourers.

Today, manufacturers are developing solutions made of new technology fibres more and more resistant to cut (Kevlar, Dyneema, glass fibre, etc.). But these new developments need to be associated to the understanding of needs and of the applications themselves. The adjunct of such fibres often results in compromised wearer comfort. Ansell's special knitting techniques isolate potentially irritating steel or glass fibres' in the yarn core; cotton is carefully added to maximise softness and comfort against the skin. Better-designed cut-resistant gloves translate to increased worker acceptance. Education remains critical as workers tend to use inadequate hand protection in a high proportion of cases.

Agnès Berthault is EMEA Business Development Manager in charge of the Construction & Public Utilities industries for Ansell Healthcare, a global leader in barrier protective products. Before joining Ansell, Agnès was active at Saint-Gobain Bâtiment Distribution. She focuses on the role that safety equipments play in protecting contractors and their workforces.