Safety Doesn't Happen by Accident
Okay, it’s tough to get excited about work gloves, but the latest in Mechanix Wear innovation will certainly make working hands happy. Truth is, working hands are exposed to daily hazards, and let’ face it – time is money. According to the most recent 2009-2010 data from the National Safety Council, the average total incurred cost per hand injury is $21,918 (Indemnity + Medical). Today, personal protective equipment isn’t just a safe insurance policy; it improves overall worker performance and efficiency. Such progress can be attributed to the amelioration of high-visibility materials and long-wearing “super materials”. Of course, there are numerous types of PPE gear offering better visibility, cut, impact, fire, and chemical protection. No matter the industry, utilizing the proper hand protection can improve the safety and productivity of your workforce. Mechanix Wear high-visibility work gloves and innovative Material4X® synthetic leather are working to change the way safety professionals approach hand safety.
Injury Stats
The following represents the number of nonfatal injuries involving days away from work by part of body affected and industry sector, private industry, US, 2010 National Safety Council.
Hand
- Private sector 39,000
- Manufacturing 6,470
- Transportation and warehousing 2,340
- Construction 3,490
- All other sectors (agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, mining, oil and gas extraction, utilities) 3,790
Finger
- Private sector 75,440
- Manufacturing 18,470
- Transportation and warehousing 3,810
- Construction 6,050
- All other sectors (agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, mining, oil and gas extraction, utilities) 6,210
Visible hands are safe hands. The need to be seen is critical for worker safety. High-visibility garments are designed to draw attention to the worker to prevent injuries and fatalities from struck-by hazards and heavy machinery in complex environments. ANSI 107-2010 approved high-visibility garments from the American National Standards Institute include three components: background material, retroreflective material, and combined-performance material. Combined performance materials can either be fluorescent yellow or fluorescent orange with retroflective material designed to reflect light back to the source.
Testing supports that contrasting, high-visibility base material combined with a reflective panel or strip is critical for user safety in low light work environments. What better place to bring attention than your always-working and always-moving hands? Mechanix Wear’s Safety Line of gloves is built using ANSI 107-2010 compliant fluorescent and reflective materials for complete integration with other high-visibility garments. The Safety Line addresses hand protection at every level. From the all-purpose Safety Original® glove to the impact-resistant M-Pact®, each glove model delivers a level of protection to reduce the burden of hand injuries in a multitude of environments.
Material4X® is redefining durability one pair of gloves at a time. Today, the term “pleather” has become slang for the faux version of real leather made from a variety of bits and pieces. When we talk about Material4X® synthetic leather, we aren’t talking about “pleather”, but more of an alternative to genuine leather. Lab and field tests show that Material4X® synthetic leather lasts four-times longer than standard synthetic leather gloves, but it doesn’t stop there. In terms of abrasion protection, Material4X® synthetic leather yields higher abrasion results than natural leather.
The secret behind this “super material” is in the dense fiber structure of Material4X®. Natural leather is not always uniform in thickness and can have inconsistent fibers depending on the portion of the hide. The dense fiber structure of Material4X® provides consistent quality and superior abrasion resistance that is soft to the touch. From manufacturing to racing, Material4X® is, as the name implies, four-times the standard. Breathable, always soft, high abrasion resistant, tear resistant, and as with all Mechanix Wear gloves, machine washable.