33 Safety, Hazard Containment & Sterilising Equipment
waste stream. If a lab worker changes gloves three times per day, that equates to 30 gloves per week or over 1,500 gloves per person per year, an amount equal to about 17 pounds. If a worker is double-gloving, that fi gure is even higher - over 30 pounds of gloves per worker, per year - an amount of waste that can really add up.
For example:
• An audit conducted by the University of Washington found that 22% of its research waste consisted of nitrile gloves.
• A University of California Santa Cruz laboratory waste assessment found that nitrile glove waste was a major contributor of laboratory waste destined for the landfi ll.
The good news? There are solutions to help address this. Look for a manufacturer- led, auditable program that diverts used, non-hazardous lab and cleanroom personal protective equipment (PPE) waste. RightCycle by Kimberly-Clark Professional®
is
one such programme. Since 2011, it has helped thousands of customers divert over 2,000 metric tons of PPE waste from the trash and landfi lls. Originating in the US, it is now available in 11 countries with customers that include universities and research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as other businesses.
With a programme like this, safety and sustainability truly do go hand-in-hand.
In addition to these use-case scenario questions, you should ask the following more general questions:
• Are the gloves manufactured using materials that reduce the risk of allergic reaction?
• Have they undergone rigorous physical testing to ensure that they can protect scientists and researchers from dangerous substances? • Are the gloves strong enough to withstand laboratory use conditions?
If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, continue your search. If the answer to all is ‘yes’, you can check the protection box. Now, it’s time to move on to other key considerations such as comfort and ergonomics.
• Comfort. Glove discomfort has been linked to reduced compliance and increased risk of injury. According to an article in Health & Safety International, ‘uncomfortable glove materials may reduce blood circulation, cause numbness, limit fi nger and hand motion, cause muscle fatigue and reduce work performance’. Therefore, it becomes essential to consider a glove solution that applies ergonomic principles during the design stage, based on the needs and characteristics of the intended use [11].
• Ergonomics. Good ergonomics are crucial for glove performance and meeting user needs. Routine laboratory procedures such as pipetting, working with microscopes, operating microtomes, and using cell counters and video display terminals can put researchers at risk for repetitive motion injuries. These injuries develop over time and occur when muscles and joints are stressed, tendons are infl amed, and nerves are pinched, and blood fl ow restricted [12].
Gloves that provide good grip can help prevent repetitive-type injuries such as tendonitis by requiring less force from the fi ngers to do the task [13]. That’s why it’s essential to select gloves that reduce the risk of muscle fatigue and injury and promote good wet and dry grip. For a lab environment, look for gloves that are protective and certifi ed by a reputable third-party agency such as US Ergonomics to ensure that they provide measurable ergonomic benefi ts to the user. Also look for tactile sensitivity and enhanced dexterity through features such as textured fi ngertips.
Sustainability
Finally, sustainability and waste reduction should be factored into the glove selection process. Because of their prevalence in labs and the fact that workers can use several pairs over the course of a day, gloves can be a signifi cant contributor to a lab’s solid
For more information about choosing hand protection that checks all the boxes for protection, comfort and sustainability, visit
www.kimtech.eu.
Manish Raval is Associate Director, Global Gloves Category, Kimberly-Clark Professional Global PPE Business.
References 1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5750924/
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
https://www.ishn.com/articles/101332-of-workers-who-injure-their-hands-arent-wearing-gloves
3. Ibid
4.
MedExpress.com, U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and Illnesses Involving Days Away from Work. Last updated 8 November 2018
5. National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2019-2020 data
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/costs/workers-compensation-costs/
6. 2013 University of Las Vegas SEB Cleanroom Users Protocol,
https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/fi les/24/SEB-Cleanroom-Manual.pdf
7. Gloves | Environmental Health & Safety | Michigan State University (
msu.edu) 8. Lab Manager, 22 December 2022 9. Nature, 18 November 2019, as reported by Lab Safety 10. Dan the Lab Safety Man, The PPE Compliance Conundrum 2019 11. Health & Safety International 12. OSHA 13. Workplace Safety North (WSN)
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