Gloves and other PPE accessories provide vital protection for vulnerable parts of the body.
The growing PPE sector demands the latest innovation to ensure essential clothing and accessories are regulatory compliant as well as providing durability and comfort.
Ben Calder, our own Sales Director, offers industry insight into some of the latest developments in the safety sector.
He says: “Our advice to companies looking to protect their staff is don’t just consider one aspect when making decisions about PPE purchases; it is worth taking the time to do some research and explore the opportunities to trial PPE products first.
“Staff comfort leads to greater productivity, morale and also staff retention. The cost of providing great standard kit for employees is nothing compared to the costs entailed with staff changes or sick days taken due to health issues caused by not having the correct PPE in place.
“We provide an extensive range of gloves and PPE accessories to offer protection and comfort from head to toe. We specialise in providing high quality safety solutions including PPE, which utilise the very latest technology, durable materials and are regulatory compliant. We offer hundreds of options which cover gloves, hand protection, helmets, eye protection, footwear and other PPE essentials including high vis garments.”
Organising PPE trials is a good idea when looking at the different options for workers available in the market. This gives workers the opportunity to road test and trial garments and companies can gain valuable insight into how the PPE products perform and can compare them to others in the market.
Ben adds: “Safety is always the number one priority and staff loyalty. Companies are often looking at the next generation of PPE because it is challenging and changing, there are always new developments, better ways to protect staff and their well being.
“Technological improvements need to be taken into consideration by companies and also ensuring they are compliant and meet all the necessary regulations. We believe every 12 months a company should do a PPE audit – it should be proper PPE analysis.
Some of the latest developments within the industry have been the introduction of very light, comfortable footwear which weigh in at around 540g and plastic caps ensure feet don’t get too cold.
The latest generation of hearing protection are more streamlined and less bulky, more comfortable and cut out the same amount of noise.
Gloves are offering a greater cut resistance but are becoming thinner so offering more dexterity for the wearer but the cut resistance is increased. So they are not chunky gloves, they are very thin and streamlined.
Ben says: “Our gloves offer highest cut level which is cut level 5. However all of this will change with the new government regulations being introduced from April so new gloves will be cut level 5 but will also need to have a lettered rating certification of A, B, C, D etc.
“It is because currently you can get so many different gloves that are cut level 5 however there are vastly different qualities. It will be an interesting development for the industry as it can be seen as a bit of a grey area and not everybody understands the changes that are going to be implemented. Companies who have products in stock still have up to five years to sell those products once the changes come into force in 2018. The new certification is going to be a big change for the entire industry. “
