**How Do Anti-Vibration Gloves Work?**
There’s no mystery or magic to anti-vibration gloves—they’re exactly what you’d expect. These gloves are similar to regular work gloves but feature extra padding on the palms to help absorb and dissipate vibrations from tools. However, since the padding is only on the palms, these gloves do little to reduce vibrations in your fingers.
The materials inside the padding vary depending on the glove. Some use gel, others foam, and some even incorporate special air pockets. Regardless of the specific material, their purpose remains the same: to minimize the amount of vibrations transmitted to your hand, wrist, and arms.
If you’ve never tried anti-vibration gloves before, it’s important to manage expectations. These gloves aren’t miracle workers. Their goal is to dampen tool vibration—not eliminate it entirely. So, if you’re looking for a way to completely eliminate vibration hazards, these gloves aren’t the answer. However, if you want to reduce your exposure to vibrations and avoid long-term issues, anti-vibration gloves could provide some relief.
**How Vibrating Equipment Impacts Workers**
Why are people so concerned about vibrations in their hands, wrists, and arms? As we’ve touched upon earlier, prolonged exposure to vibrations can lead to serious long-term health problems.
**Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)**
The primary concern is Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). Repeated exposure to vibrations can permanently damage the blood vessels and nerves in your hands and arms. This irreversible damage can result in numbness in your fingers, a weaker grip, and difficulty healing wounds on your hands and arms.
**Raynaud’s Disease**
Another condition to watch out for is Raynaud’s disease, also known as white finger syndrome. Typically, Raynaud’s occurs in people exposed to cold conditions, where the extreme cold hampers proper hand circulation, causing discoloration of the finger skin. When exposed to vibration hazards, the damaged blood vessels caused by the vibrations can prevent adequate circulation, leading to Raynaud’s symptoms even without cold exposure.
**Carpal Tunnel Syndrome**
If all of that wasn’t enough, vibrations can also lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. While carpal tunnel is often caused by repetitive motions damaging nerves in your hand, leading to numbness and muscle weakness, it’s not the only culprit. Vibration exposure can also cause nerve damage, resulting in carpal tunnel syndrome.
**General Discomfort**
Beyond these serious issues, there are the everyday discomforts of vibration exposure. After using a hand tool for too long, do you experience numbness in your hand or tingling in your arm? These are signs that you’re harming your body—and they’re completely avoidable.
The real danger of vibration exposure isn’t the vibrations themselves; it’s ignoring the clear warning signs that your body is being damaged irreversibly. Listen to your body, don’t tough it out, and make choices that ensure a safe and healthy future.
**Who Should Use Anti-Vibration Gloves?**
Let’s face it—anti-vibration gloves won’t protect you from all the disorders, diseases, and syndromes we’ve discussed. The best approach to avoiding HAVS is reducing the time you’re exposed to vibrations or avoiding them altogether. While this may sound straightforward, it’s not always practical for most workers. Instead, consider using tools designed to reduce vibration transfer to your hands and taking breaks. Allowing your body to recover is crucial when dealing with any hazard.
Once you’ve taken these steps, you can take your safety a step further by wearing anti-vibration gloves. If you’re already making efforts to avoid HAVS, why not add an extra layer of protection?
It’s important to note that anti-vibration gloves are most effective at absorbing high-frequency vibrations. Small hand tools typically emit high-frequency vibrations, making drills, saws, grinders, and sanders ideal candidates for pairing with anti-vibration gloves.
Most construction workers, automotive workers, and landscapers could benefit from having a pair of these gloves.
**What is ANSI S2.73 / ISO 10819?**
Some anti-vibration gloves are ANSI/ISO rated for vibration resistance. If you’re familiar with other ANSI standards, like cut resistance, you might expect to see a system of anti-vibration levels.
But that’s not how this standard works. The ANSI/ISO anti-vibration standard is a pass/fail system. Gloves either meet the standard or they don’t, with no levels. For a glove to meet the standard, it must meet several physical specifications: it cannot be fingerless, it needs to have continuous padding covering the full palm without gaps, and the padding must be no thicker than 8mm.
In addition to meeting these physical requirements, the gloves must also meet performance criteria. They must reduce the transmission of medium-frequency vibrations by 10% and high-frequency vibrations by 40%.
Any glove claiming to meet the ANSI S2.73/ISO 10819 standard must satisfy all of these criteria. A 40% reduction in high-frequency vibrations can significantly decrease your vibration exposure.
**Controversy Behind Anti-Vibration Gloves**
If you’re researching anti-vibration gloves, you’ll likely encounter a lot of controversy over whether they actually work or if they’re just a gimmick. Many argue it’s the latter. Some studies suggest that anti-vibration gloves can increase the amount of vibration transmitted to your hands and wrists. Others point out that the lack of finger protection renders these gloves ineffective.
Both arguments hold merit. We’ve mentioned that these gloves are ineffective against low-frequency vibrations. Using anti-vibration gloves with low-frequency tools like jackhammers or rammers could potentially do more harm than good. Additionally, cheaply made gloves might claim vibration resistance but simply have extra padding. Such low-quality gloves can cause harm at any vibration frequency. Always purchase gloves from a trusted brand through a reputable retailer and beware of knockoffs.
The lack of finger protection is another valid concern. Even with the ANSI rating, there’s no requirement for preventing vibrations from reaching your fingers. This is strange because power tools require finger use, and fingers are not immune to vibration-related disorders. This might be the strongest argument against anti-vibration gloves.
Remember, we mentioned earlier that these gloves aren’t the solution to vibration hazards. To truly protect yourself from permanent harm caused by vibration exposure, follow a list of precautions that don’t include anti-vibration gloves. Once you’ve started using ergonomic tools, learned when to rest your hands, and figured out how to reduce overall exposure, you can consider adding a pair of anti-vibration gloves for added protection.
Think of it this way: imagine sitting in the passenger seat of a car knowing the driver isn’t the best. You’d buckle up and maybe even lock your seatbelt for good measure. Locking the seatbelt isn’t necessary, but it helps in case of an accident. Anti-vibration gloves are similar—they might not be essential, but they can help when facing a hazard.
**Protect Workers with Anti-Vibration Gloves from PowerPak Civil & Safety**
We hope this article shed some light on anti-vibration gloves. This is a complex topic, and after researching and reading all the conflicting opinions online, it’s easy to get confused or discouraged. When writing this article, our goal was always to present safe, accurate information. We don’t want to promote anything that could cause harm. For more information on other types of construction gloves, check out our resources.
It’s entirely up to you whether to add this extra layer of protection. If you decide to try anti-vibration gloves, contact us at PowerPak, and we’ll help you get started with a reputable pair today.
**Conclusion**
While anti-vibration gloves aren’t a cure-all, they can offer some benefits when used properly. By combining them with other safety measures, you can better protect yourself from the harmful effects of vibration exposure. Remember, your safety is paramount—take the necessary steps to protect yourself today for a healthier tomorrow.
Ningbo Hengnuo Hydraulic Drive Co.,Ltd , https://www.hnhydraulic.com