How Do Anti-Vibration Gloves Work?
The title pretty much sums it up. Anti-vibration gloves are exactly what you'd expect them to be—standard work gloves with extra padding on the palms to help absorb and reduce the impact of vibrations from tools. However, since the padding is only on the palms, these gloves don't offer much protection for your fingers.
The materials used in the padding vary from glove to glove. Some incorporate gel, others foam, and some even use special air pockets. No matter the material, their purpose remains the same: to minimize the vibrations that travel through your hand, wrist, and arm.
If you're new to using anti-vibration gloves, it's important to set realistic expectations. These gloves aren't miracle workers. Their primary function is to dampen the vibrations from tools, not eliminate them entirely. So, if you're looking for a way to completely remove yourself from vibration hazards, these gloves won't solve that problem. However, if you're aiming to reduce your exposure to vibrations and avoid long-term health issues, anti-vibration gloves might provide some relief.
How Vibrating Equipment Impacts Workers
Why are people so concerned about vibrations in their hands, wrists, and arms? As we've mentioned before, prolonged exposure to vibrations can lead to some serious long-term health problems.
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
The main issue you should aim to avoid is Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). Repeated exposure to vibrations can permanently damage the blood vessels and nerves in your hands and arms. This damage can result in numbness in your fingers, a weaker grip, and difficulty healing wounds on your hands and arms.
Raynaud’s Disease
Raynaud’s disease, also known as white finger syndrome, poses a threat to workers exposed to vibrations. Typically, Raynaud’s is common in people exposed to cold conditions. The cold restricts proper hand circulation, causing parts of the finger skin to discolor. When exposed to vibration hazards, the damaged blood vessels caused by the vibrations prevent the needed circulation, leading to Raynaud's even without exposure to extreme cold.
Carpal Tunnel
If all of that wasn't enough, the vibrations can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Usually, carpal tunnel is caused by repetitive motions damaging the nerves in your hand, leading to numbness and weakened muscles. You often hear about carpal tunnel being common among office workers due to the repetitive motion of typing, which damages the nerves. Carpal tunnel is also a concern for many construction and factory workers. However, the increased use of ergonomic tools is helping to reduce the number of cases. Still, repetitive motion isn't the only way to damage the nerves in your hand. Vibration exposure can cause the same nerve damage, which can also result in carpal tunnel.
General Discomfort
Beyond all the serious issues, the daily discomforts of vibration exposure are enough to make you reconsider your habits. After using a hand tool for too long, do you lose feeling in your hand, or does your entire arm get tingly? These are signs that you're harming your body, and they are completely avoidable.
The real danger of vibration exposure isn't the vibrations themselves; it's how easily we ignore the clear signs that we're damaging our bodies and causing permanent harm. Listen to your body, don't try to 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 save you from all the previously mentioned disorders, diseases, and syndromes. The best course of action to avoid HAVS is to try and reduce the time you're exposed to vibrations or avoid them altogether. I know the abstinence method didn't work when you were a teenager, and it won't work now. In this case, it’s not an option for most workers. Instead, try using tools that are designed to reduce vibration transfer to the hand and take breaks. Allowing your body time to recover is essential when exposed to any hazard.
Once you've done all that, if you want to take your safety a step further, that's where anti-vibration gloves come in. If you're putting in all that effort to avoid HVAS, why not go the extra mile and wear a pair of anti-vibration gloves for added protection?
Another important point to note about anti-vibration gloves is that they are really only effective at absorbing high-frequency vibrations. Smaller hand tools usually emit high-frequency vibrations. So, tools like drills, saws, grinders, and sanders are ideal for pairing with a set of anti-vibration gloves.
Most construction workers, automotive workers, and landscapers could benefit from having a pair of anti-vibration 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 glove standards, like cut resistance, you'll probably expect to see a system of anti-vibration levels.
That's not how this one works. The ANSI/ISO anti-vibration is a pass/fail standard. Gloves either meet the standard or don't, and there aren't any levels. For this standard, gloves are required to meet a few physical specifications. They cannot be fingerless gloves. They need to have padding that covers the full palm without any gaps. The padding needs to be a maximum of 8mm thick.
With all those physical requirements met, the gloves also need to meet some performance metrics. Transmission of medium rate frequencies needs to be reduced by 10%, compared to not wearing a glove at all. Transmission of high-rate frequencies needs to be reduced by 40%.
Any glove that says it meets the ANSI S2.73/ISO 10819 standard must meet all of the above criteria. A 40% reduction in high-frequency vibrations goes a long way if you want to reduce your vibration exposure.
Controversy Behind Anti-Vibration Gloves
If you're in the process of researching anti-vibration gloves, you're going to see a lot of controversy about whether these gloves actually work or if they're just a gimmick. Most say it’s a gimmick. Some studies have shown that anti-vibration gloves can increase the amount of vibration transferred to your hands and wrists. Other individuals point out that the lack of vibration resistance for the finger renders these gloves useless.
These are both great points. We mentioned earlier that these gloves are not effective at protecting you from low-frequency vibrations. Using anti-vibration gloves with low-vibration frequency tools like jackhammers or rammers could potentially do more harm than good. Also, some cheaply made gloves might claim to be vibration-resistant but just have some extra padding. These low-quality gloves may cause more harm at any vibration frequency. It’s important to buy gloves from a trusted brand from a reputable retailer. Beware of knockoffs and gimmicks.
The point about the lack of finger protection is valid as well. Even with the ANSI rating, there is no requirement to prevent vibrations from transferring to your fingers. This is odd because power tools famously require fingers to operate, and fingers are not immune to all of the disorders associated with vibration exposure. This might be the strongest argument against anti-vibration gloves.
If you remember from earlier, we mentioned that these gloves aren't the solution for vibration hazards. To protect your body from the permanent harm caused by vibration exposure, you need to follow a list of precautions that do not include anti-vibration gloves. Once you've started utilizing ergonomic tools, learned when to give your hands a break, and figured out how to reduce your overall exposure, then you can consider adding a pair of anti-vibration gloves for good measure.
Imagine you're getting into the passenger seat of a car, and you know the driver isn't the best. You're going to sit straight in that seat, buckle up, and maybe lock up the seatbelt for good measure. Locking up the seatbelt is not necessary, but it’ll help in the event of a crash. That’s essentially what anti-vibration gloves are, they may not be necessary, but they will help when faced with a hazard.
Protect Workers With Anti-Vibration Gloves From PowerPak Civil & Safety
Hopefully, this article has shed some light on the topic of anti-vibration gloves. This is a confusing topic, and after researching and reading all the controversy and opinion shouting online, it’s easy to get confused or put off on the topic. When writing this article, and any article for that matter, we always aim to lead with safe information. We don’t want to sell anything that will cause harm. Read about more types of construction gloves.
It is 100% your choice to add this extra measure of protection. If you decide to try anti-vibration gloves, contact us at PowerPak, and we'll get you started with a reputable pair today.
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