High performance cut resistant clothing for glaziers and glass workers, are a very effective and efficient way of reducing the risk of accidental cut injuries.
When working with glass, it is of course of great importance to wear the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to shield the worker’s body from injury in case the glass breaks or shatters on impact. Eye gear is required when doing any sort of cutting or grinding, and is of equal importance to wear cut resistant clothing that protects against accidental cuts.
The priority has to be to provide adequate information on safety precautions and training on the handling of glass to all employees and to develop and implement a safe system of work. However, it is a matter of fact that injuries will always occur as long as human being exists. Our focus or concentration at work can easily be compromised by a number of variables we cannot control, such as personal circumstances, amount of sleep, health and even how much an individual enjoys their job role.
Understanding this we must aim to prevent of cut injuries, in case mechanical or human errors occur. This is where cut resistant clothing can help. Just like a seat belt in our car, we can hope as much as we want that we will never need our seat belt, and we can believe as much as we want in our own great driving abilities. Unfortunately, one day our car might fail to work correctly or it might be someone else who makes a major driving error, and in such moment our seat belt will drastically increase our chance of survival or reduce the risk of serious injury.
The International Labour Organization has observed that an estimated 50 million work related injuries occur every year or 160,000 every day. Their study of 263 glass workers at a one particular glass factory in 2003 and 2004 concluded that 59.3% had suffered from cut related injuries at work.
New figures from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK clearly show the glass and metal handling industry is among the most dangerous in the UK, accounting for nine per cent of the total workforce and 16 per cent of reportable accidents.
Better protection would have also prevented the serious cut injury of Ian Swain, a glass worker, whose arm was cut to the bone when a sheet of glass shattered in his hand in 2009, severing the artery, muscle and nerves in his right arm.
The Health & Safety Executives stated clearly that if Ian Swain would have been provided with full arm protection he would have avoided serious injury.
Following similar serious cut related injuries and even the loss of life, and after having very carefully evaluated the financial, legal and moral consequences following such accidents, the world’s leading glass handling firms have issued their workforce with appropriate PPE over the past few years. Have you? Are you aware of the latest developments within the world of cut resistant clothing?
High performance cut resistant clothing has recently been launched and tested to European (EN 388:2003 Level 5), International (ISO 13997:1999 Level 5) and American (ASTM F-1790-05 Level 4) blade cut resistance standards. All available test results confirm its truly outstanding cut protection levels.
Made out of 100% Cut-Tex PRO, this type of cut resistant clothing offers an equal high level of comfort and protection and is now available from highly respected licensed distributors in numerous countries around the world.
Bespoke cut resistant clothing can also be designed, developed and manufactured based on customers operational duties and risks, or clear design guidelines.
Please email info@ppss-group.com visit www.ppss-group.com or call +44 (0) 845 5193 953