Still Wearing Gloves Around Machinery?  Don’t!

 by

Bob Del Prete, Former Southern Region Safety and Health Rep

Bill Pick, Fort Lauderdale APWU Steward, recently told me that he was having a difficult time convincing people that gloves should not be worn when working around machinery.  He explained that workers simply do not understand the amount of documentation on file that forbids such a practice or the danger that it presents.

Yes, the amount of regulations that exist forbidding such a practice is impressive indeed.  But first understand the premise that these regulations rest upon.  It has been reported time after time that gloves worn around the moving parts of machinery contribute to severe injury because a glove can become entangled and thus draw the hand into a machine’s point of operation, its pinch points, or drives.  Hands subjected to the pressure and force that these areas can generate can mangle, maim and in some cases, necessitate amputation.  Such pain and hardship to workers and their families is simply unnecessary and preventable. 

 And postal regulations reflect an appreciation of this dangerous practice.  Consider the following:

1.  EL 801 Supervisor’s Safety Handbook (May 2001). Section 4-5 Glove Safety, (c). On page 37 of this handbook, it clearly states as follows: “Where risk of injury is increased because of machinery, wearing of gloves is prohibited.  Gloves must not be worn when and where they can get caught in powered machinery.  Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: feeder, induction, stacker, and transport conveyor paths of the mail processing machines; conveyors with pinch and/or nip points; and drills, chain drives, and rotating shafts with catch points.”

2.   EL 803 Maintenance Employee’s Guide to Safety (November 2000). Section XVI Machine Work, A. Work Practices, l. Personal: On page 54 of this handbook, it clearly states as follows:  “When operating or observing machines within an arm’s length, do not wear loose clothing, neckties, gloves (my underline), sweaters, rings, watches, bracelets, or other objects that could become entangled or could present an electrical contact hazard.”

3.  EL 814 Postal Employee’s Guide to Safety (March 2001). General Safety Rules, B. Personal Protective Equipment, 2. Hand Protection.  On page 14 of this handbook, it clearly states as follows: “You may use gloves for materials handling activities that do not involve potential contact with powered machine pads.”

While OSHA has no regulations that forbid the use of gloves around the moving parts of equipment, they will always point to the manufacturer’s recommendations on the subject.  If the maker of the equipment specifies that gloves are not to be worn around it’s moving parts and says so in its operator’s manual and/or with a sign posted on the equipment itself, OSHA regards such language as law.

In spite of these regulations it is interesting to hear of a relaxation of these requirements in some facilities.  For example, there was one office that required the use of gloves around machinery and even disciplined one employee for not wearing them and then getting a staple stuck in his finger!  Another allowed the use of golf gloves, and still others have allowed employees to wrap fingers with different types of tape that can loosen and also become entangled in machinery … another safety hazard!  Such facilities are endangering workers with their callous disregard for recommendations and risk liability if a worker gets hurt and if management decides to admit to their poor judgment (fat chance!), or if it can be proven that the wrong policy was in fact standard practice. 

Many districts did allow the wearing of latex gloves around machinery during the anthrax crisis, but this was strictly a local issue, and whether or not this practice was continued depended on management.  The philosophy with this exception was that the risk of injury to the hand from a latex glove getting caught up in machinery was better than possible exposure to anthrax spores.

Make the right decision when it comes to the wearing of gloves around machinery and go without them.  While many justify the use of gloves as protection against paper cuts, it is probably wiser to deal with the pain of a paper cut then with the pain of a crushed or mangled hand or finger. 

NOTE: There are times when gloves are recommended, in fact even required, and this will be the subject of a future article.   

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Last modified: July 26, 2010