Chantal Gauvin

The effect of protective glove exposure to industrial contaminants on their resistance to mechanical risks

In several industrial environments, mechanical risks are often combined with various contaminants such as oils and greases, which may reduce the performance of protective gloves against mechanical hazards. However, glove properties are characterized on new and clean specimens, and little is known about their residual resistance once contaminated and over time. In this study, a series of protective gloves used in metalworking companies and garages were exposed to relevant oils and greases. Used gloves were also obtained from a food processing center and a garage. Their residual resistance to mechanical risks (cutting, puncture and tearing) was evaluated using standard test methods. Results revealed in some instances a large decrease in resistance to mechanical risks. Since a corresponding change in the material aspect may not always be easily observable, this may lead to serious safety breaches. These findings demonstrate the need to further the research in this domain.

Influence of medical needle characteristics on the resistance to puncture of protective glove materials

Puncture of protective clothing by medical needles is a major concern for a number of professional groups. This is particularly true since it has been shown that the protection level of protective gloves measured using the current puncture resistance standards is not relevant when dealing with medical needles. This paper proposes a step-by-step analysis of the puncture mechanism of membranes by medical needles. It investigates also the influence on the puncture force of various characteristics of medical needles, including the needle diameter, number of facets, and facet angle, for a number of materials relevant to protective gloves. It is observed that the effect of these parameters is sometimes very dependent on the type of material punctured. Tests also reveal that the variation in the measured puncture force for mass-produced three-facet medical needles can be associated with the variation of one of the needle dimensions, i.e., the outer diameter at the transition between the facets. Finally, a study of the effect of needle reuse in successive trials shows that cutting-edge wear is much more extensive with reinforced materials. This justifies the need to use needles only once for measuring the puncture resistance of protective clothing materials.

Resistance of protective gloves materials to puncture by medical needles

The accidental injury by medical needles, even when wearing personal protective clothing, is a growing concern for an increasing number of workers. Therefore, an effort has been undertaken to study the interaction of medical needles with materials relevant to protective gloves. A first phase of the project had investigated the influence of needle characteristics on the resistance to puncture by medical needles of selected materials relevant to protective gloves. A step-by-step analysis of the mechanism of puncture by medical needles was proposed. This second paper studies the effect of sample thickness and test conditions on the resistance to needle puncture of various types of materials relevant to protective gloves. For elastomers and fabric-reinforced elastomers, the influence of the sample thickness and needle penetration angle can be described using the principles of fracture mechanics; the non-linear relationship between puncture force and sample thickness is attributed to the elliptical shape of the fracture surface, and the effect of the needle penetration angle on puncture force is reduced to a master curve when expressed in terms of the effective sample penetration thickness. On the other hand, more textile-based materials behave as discrete media. The study of the effect of probe displacement rate and temperature seems to indicate that the needle puncture process in all studied materials is of viscoelastic nature. It was also observed that the time-temperature superposition principle applies to neoprene resistance to medical needles. These results set the basis for the design of a test method relative to the resistance of materials to medical needles. It also provides information for the development of protective gloves with improved resistance to needlesticks.

Effect of protective glove use conditions on their resistance to needle puncture

Abstract With the growing concern about the risk of needle puncture injuries for many professional groups, a study has been undertaken to investigate the interaction between medical (hypodermic) needles and materials used for protective gloves. This paper looks at the impact of glove use conditions on the resistance of their constitutive materials to needle puncture. Mechanical deformations which may result from hand and finger flexion, for example, were shown to induce a large reduction in the puncture force in the case of elastomers. On the other hand, no significant effect of a support material simulating the hand inside the glove was observed on needle puncture resistance. Finally, a reduction in the needle puncture force was recorded with sheets of neoprene rubber after application of a lubricant. These results demonstrate the large contribution of cutting and friction in the needle puncture process.

Evaluation of effects of anti-vibration gloves on manual dexterity

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of anti-vibration gloves on manual dexterity and to explore factors affecting the manual dexterity. The manual dexterity of ten different gloves was investigated with 15 adult male subjects via performing two different dexterity tests, namely ASTM F2010 standard test and Two-Hand Turning and Placing Minnesota test. Two-factor repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate the main effects of glove type, test method and their interaction effect on manual dexterity. Results suggested that glove type yielded significant effect on manual dexterity (p < .001), while no significant difference was observed between test methods (p = .112). The interaction effect of glove type and test method also revealed a significant difference (p = .009). The manual dexterity decreased nearly linearly with increase in the glove thickness, which further showed a moderately significant difference on the number of drops during the tests. Practitioner Summary: Anti-vibration gloves may adversely affect manual dexterity and work precision, which may discourage their usage. This article presented a study of manual dexterity performance of anti-vibration gloves and the design factors affecting the manual dexterity. The results were discussed in view of a design guidance for improved hand dexterity, which would encourage the use of anti-vibration gloves in the workplace.