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IS GRIP THE NEW SAFETY FEATURE?
This will, perhaps, be the world's shortest article,
since the answer to that question is yes: grip is
indeed the new safety feature.
But why is grip able to offer the glove user more
safety? Surely gloves have always had grip, so
how can this be a new thing?
The answer to these questions is to do with
the type of grip, the way it's delivered and
the additional benefits it brings. As any tyre
manufacture will tell you, power is nothing
without grip. Grip has to be optimized for the
surface condition of the road or track and gloves
are no different.
CUT RESISTANCE
Often the response to recurring cut injuries is
to introduce gloves with higher levels of cut
resistance.
However, increasing the cut resistance often
treats the effect, i.e. cuts, rather than the cause
of the issue, i.e. movement. After all, it's the
movement of what the hand is holding that
frequently cuts the glove. Simply put, if it doesn't
slip then it cannot cut.
Used correctly, a glove with ANSI cut level 2 /
EN level 3 with the right grip can be as effective
if not more effective than a glove with ANSI cut
level 4 / EN level 5.
Using thinner gloves will also increase worker
acceptance through better comfort.
WORKER COMFORT
Worker comfort is always one of the first things
people consider when selecting or trying on a
glove. Is it comfortable? Does it offer the needed
dexterity, flexibility and tactility?
Gloves that offer more cut resistance are
frequently more bulky, working against the
other metrics.
It's a question of protection versus comfort. It's
fundamental to get this right, since bulky gloves
will be taken off for precision-handling tasks
leaving bare hands exposed to the risk of a cut.
This is why many case studies conclude that
using gloves with a higher cut resistance will
not necessarily reduce the injury frequency rate
(IFR).
TIME FOR CHANGE
We at ATG
®
believe so.
Unlike any other form of PPE, gloves have to
enhance the performance of the most advanced
working tool, the hand.
As such, a glove has to offer the user comfort
whilst remaining durable and providing the
appropriate level of grip. As professional work
gloves are going to rest against the skin for long
periods of time, day in, day out, we at ATG®
believe that the dermatological aspect has to be
taken into consideration.
For these reasons, we at ATG
®
believe that people
needing cut-resistant gloves have been poorly
served by PU gloves since the coated area does
not breathe due to the solid film construction.
Given the palm of the hand has the most sweat
glands per cm² (370 cm²) of anywhere on the
body, this is a major hindrance in offering the
comfort professional glove wearers deserve.
Inspired to develop a totally new cut-resistant
glove based on the core values of MaxiFlex
®
,
ATG
®
created the world's first game-changing
biomimetic glove, the MaxiFlex
®
Cut
™
.
TM
