Tool Tuesday - PPE Deep Dive on Gloves
It’s time for yet another edition of Tool Tuesday - a look at the tools and equipment Red Mountain Rigging uses to get the job done!
Today we continue our bottom up deep dive into PPE, or Personal Protective Equipment! We started with footwear, covered chainsaw pants and chaps, and now we’re moving up to the next piece of gear - Gloves!
The topic of gloves always starts an interesting conversation amongst chainsaw users and arborists. Some love gloves, some prefer to work without them, and all that use them like a different style best. Gloves can be such a personal preference, but it’s important to understand which styles work best based on the task at hand (pun absolutely intended). After all, everyone wants to finish out the day with their palms and digits in tact!
When working with trees, sharp branches can puncture and tear your skin, and working around sharpened chainsaws and handsaws can cause anything from little nicks to full blown lacerations. And while workplace legislation in Alberta doesn’t mandate it for tree work, Red Mountain Rigging has adopted a policy for glove use on all of its job sites as a minimum piece of PPE.
But what’s the best glove for the job? First, let’s look at leather gloves. A good leather work glove provides the best protection from sharp branches or thorns while moving brush, and provides a better grip and ability to run a rope through them without suffering rope burn. This can be especially important during negative rigging operations where the idea is to let the rope run to help dissipate force. If you’re moving branches or hauling brush around your yard, we’d recommend a solid pair of leather work gloves for the task!
The next pair of gloves we use gives us a bit better dexterity, important for tasks that require a bit more manipulation. There’s a number of brands of cut resistant fabric gloves with a rubber impregnated palm that work fantastic for the fine-motor tasks. We use these when climbing to help us manipulate carabiners and tie knots, and they typically end up being on our crews hands for the majority of the day when they AREN’T pulling brush or running rigging operations. A great all-purpose glove! Just remember, they may SAY cut resistant, but they certainly won’t stop a chainsaw!
Which brings us to the final style we’ll look at today - Chainsaw gloves. We’ve talked a fair amount about the fibres present in chainsaw pants and chaps that work to protect your leg underneath by clogging up the drive sprocket of the chainsaw should an incident occur. There are a number of brands of gloves with the same fibres incorporated into the back of the left hand. Studies on chainsaw injuries show the most likely place to get cut on a person’s hand is the back of the left hand. This is due to how the user holds the chainsaw, and frankly, some bad habits in not wrapping the thumb around the handle bar and unsafe techniques for engaging the chain brake.
Chainsaw Protective Gloves - The Left Glove (Top Glove Here) is Much Bulkier due to the Addition of the Aramid Fibers
A chainsaw is a TWO handed tool - there’s no such thing as a one-handed chainsaw. And while these special gloves are certainly an additional layer of protection and aren’t overly expensive, a user that is diligent with same cutting and chainsaw techniques shouldn’t see an incident where the back of the left hand is exposed to the chain.
Proper Chainsaw Techniques Involve Wrapping Your Thumb and Using Your Left Wrist to Trigger the Chain Brake
But what about when you’re doing maintenance to your saws? Things like sharpening your chain SCREAM for gloves! You’re hands are all up in the chain, trying to make it as sharp as possible. The chances for a quick slip leading to a laceration is far too high to go bare hand!
Gloves Help Protect your Hands when Performing Maintenance on your Saw
Whatever glove you chose, make sure you’ve got them on when you’re running your saw, working in your yard, or tuning up your tools!
Written by Sean Sterna - The Rocky Mountain Arborist & Used with Permission