If your need for gloves is for gardening or at-home jobs, there are specific types of gloves that fit the bill.  When your employment requires that you wear Personal Protective Equipment, including gloves, employers must conduct extensive hazard assessments to ensure that potential injury to hands of workers is avoided.  The employer should determine which type of protection is needed for the utmost safety, by selecting the proper glove, finger guards, or elbow-length glove that is appropriate for the task at hand.  There are numerous selections of work gloves, even gloves with a light on them for working under the hood of a car!  Whether you are an employer, employee, or performing jobs at home, it’s important to make the right choices.

Factors that should influence your decision in choosing gloves:

• Types of chemicals you are exposed to.  Also the nature of contact (splash, total immersion.)

• Duration of contact.  Area of body that requires protection.

• Thermal Protection.

• Abrasion/Resistance Required.

• Mechanical hazards that you are around, such as rough, sharp objects, at home or work.

• Proper fit to avoid dropping products in assembly.

• Furnish good grip for wet/dry, hot/cold working conditions.

• Styled for tasks that require delicate, intricate handling.

• Gender specific.

Gloves generally fall into four groups:

• Leather, Canvas or Metal Mesh

• Fabric and Coated Fabric

• Chemical and Liquid-resistant

• Insulated Rubber Gloves

It is important that employers are aware of any employees who are allergic to materials of gloves, such as latex, or those with powder.  Persons who are sensitized should have emergency identification specifying their allergy and carry a prescription for epinephrine from their allergist.  Workers must be prepared to recognize and treat a person who might go into anaphylactic shock.

Gloves serve a very important purpose for almost all walks of life: the medical field, military, law enforcement, and industrial environments.  They are necessary for certain jobs at home and many different sports.  Best of all, they help us stay warm!

Source: OSHA