dieseldoc Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 How many of you guys wear gloves while you work? Heres the reason I ask the question. My shop is considering the idea of requiring us to wear gloves all the time when we work. Just like safety glasses and steel toe boots are required. We apparently have a very high amount of hand injuries over the last year or so. I dont know about you guys but I dont wear gloves all that often. I wear nitrile gloves when I have to wash a lot of parts, or leather ones when dealing with hot components. Appears to be common sense to me. I have noticed though the last couple years of tech school kids we have had wont touch anything without wearing gloves of some kind. I dont know there reasons and I dont much care. To each his own I say. But I do know that they are the ones that when they get a scratch they go fill out a form with the front office ladies. To me this has always been part of the job. I am the guy that gets a cut, wraps a piece of shop rag (maybe a band-aid if I'm feeling crazy)around the cut , than puts some electrical tape around that to keep it in place and try to avoid coolant and brake clean. If it is still bleeding at break time a few hours later than well maybe I oughta go talk to the ladies up front and consider going to the vet to get it sewed up. Just my humble opinion. Wow, sorry for the long post but the rumor of this policy got me to thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I did most of my wrenching down South where everybody is a good 'ol boy, so if you had gloves on then you might as well had a dress on too. Like you said it's part of the job, hands are gonna get dirty and get chemicals on them. But then a funny thing happened. I got older and seasonal changes started effecting me drastically. My hands started to crack and bleed no matter how much I moisturized them (btw I hate hand lotion). During the winters I had to put on this prescription hand cream and wear rubber gloves to bed at night with rubber bands around the wrist part to keep the stuff in the glove, just so I could function the next day. Five years ago I moved to Vermont and the winters are alot worse so I was anxious to say the least about my health. Well gloves are provided free at my dealer and I wear them for everything. If you saw me on the street and we shook hands you would have no idea that I wrench for a living. My point is I was a die hard tough guy who thought gloves were for sissy's and that you couldn't feel what you were working with, that has been converted!!! I am now a player not a hater. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Three reasons I wear gloves: The Wife. (Enough said) Reduce chemical absorption into the skin. I don't think this is given enough thought. Your skin being the largest organ of your body will absorb chemicals that can affect the entire body. Keeps my hands clean so I can accept paperwork, dispatch, meet with a customer or take a hurried piss at at a moments notice. Being a team leader/foreman I am CONSTANTLY being interrupted and having to wash up ten times an hour is out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveS Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 With 30+ years in the trade I was definately turning wrenches before anyone thought of wearing gloves. I remember "washing" my hands in the solvent tank. If I had 2 consecutive weeks of vacation my hands would sting for the first couple days back as I got accustomed to it again. Those were the days, weren't they? (stupid! stupid! stupid!). I've been using latex gloves most of the time at work since about 11 years ago. What I like is the ability to peel off the dirt right away when I need clean hands and not wash several times a day. I haven't had the skin problems that flmmaz has had but I did notice that my hands were drying out, sometimes to the point that it was almost painful. Now I usually wash at lunch and end of day and my skin is happier. However, for accident protection protection I'd think that you would need heavier gloves (Mechanix style). I can see that working for some jobs but most of the time they just wouldn't have the dexterity necessary for what we do. What kind of gloves are they going to require? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Oh yeah, the accident angle... I also doubt gloves will do anything to reduce injury. I have been cut by razor blades and sharp aluminum edges through gloves WITHOUT cutting the gloves! From your post I almost wonder if your management is tired of filling out paperwork every time someone scrapes a knuckle. I don't think that is what accident reports are intended for. Are you serious? Get a small cut and you have to fill out a report? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/icon_crazy.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I wear nitrile gloves all day at work. I go through a box a week. I wear impact gloves whenever I'm air hammering and usually when using my gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveS Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I have been cut by razor blades and sharp aluminum edges through gloves WITHOUT cutting the gloves!Me too. Handy for keeping the blood off the upholstery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseldoc Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 We dont have to fill out paper work for every little scrape, but for some reason some of the guys do. I have started wearing glove much more often now. The winters here are very cold and very dry so the hands take a beating. We have these glove they are like a knit glove that fits the hand very snugly(almost like a nitrile or latex glove). But they have a rubber type of coating on the palm and fingers. They are really pretty comfortable to wear. The only thing about them is the back of the hand and down two knuckles on the back side are the knit, they breath really well but they also soak up fuel, and oil. I decided to wear them for one month just to see if they really helped with the cuts an knicks. For the most part they do. I dont think they will actually require them but they mentioned it. I dont think the mandatory gloves would have the effect they are looking for. They did tell us if we need gloves for anything see your lead man for a shop RO and order some. They provide us with nitrile, these knit gloves, and impact gloves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shlep Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 A couple years back I suffered a chemical reaction to something in the Motorcraft line of products, for the life of me and the Dr's no one can identify what exactly caused it but the pain and swelling cost me weeks off work with no income due to fact is the owner denied any possible way that it was work related, so after that I wore gloves almost always, that is until I moved to another Ford store that is much cleaner, soon after that my hands completely cleared up. I don't wear the gloves nearly as much as I should but I think maybe I'll start making it routine once again just to be sure it won't happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I used to work with a service advisor who is allergic to brake fluid. I don't recall the symptoms but it was serious enough where he would walk away at the sight of an open bottle or disconnected brake components. I wouldn't discount your claims at all. The chemicals we work with are definitely more dangerous than we give thought to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I started to reply with my thoughts... it started getting long (no surprises there). Anyone want to read the old fools rantings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I started to reply with my thoughts... it started getting long (no surprises there). Anyone want to read the old fools rantings? I do!!! I need something to sober me up... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shlep Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I started to reply with my thoughts... it started getting long (no surprises there). Anyone want to read the old fools rantings? Let er fly Jim, rantings or not, your posts and opinions are always welcome in my books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_E Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 +1 /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/popcorn.gif Come on Jim, we live for this /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/notworthy.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/popcorn.gif I also had a long-winded post about this all written up and my computer wouldn't let me post for some reason. Ah well. Continue, Jim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Do NOT say I didn't warn you.... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif There's the odd time I can get a little cavalier about my personal safety... It becomes a case of "do as I say.... not as I do...". Bad example is me... but, at least that is out in the open and wont haunt me.... My plain side wants to call everyone a bunch of pussies and tell them to "cowboy up". My frosted side, however..... I can't see documenting every little scratch... hell, I thought part of our job description was the ability to "leak" on demand.... Looking at my dainty little hands, I count... lessee - looks like 13 cuts, knicks and scratches... not including the ones I get from playing with the dog... a hundredish pound German Shephard pup.... Anyway... this brave, new world has a few "things" that we didn't have back when Popeye cartoons had Popeye wailing the crap out of Hitler and Tojo.... (remember, until I was six or seven, I had never heard of television). During the 50s, we started to see chemically treated food and packaging.... I started my life without the miracle of butylated hydroxytoluene. Today, this is added to the packaging of all manner of food stuffs to "preserve freshness". I did survive the "red food dye #4" scandal. Purchase a bag of prepared non-organic salad.... cut it open and breathe deeply... you can smell the chemical preservatives. A friend hauled tomatoes out of Nogales... before they closed the trailer doors, they would spray some kind of chemical to retard maturation of the 'maters (why is it that Catsup tastes more like tomatoes than tomatoes do?). Farmers are applying chemicals to crops that literally push the damned things up out of the ground rather than "allowing" them to grow on their own.... Pesticides... herbicides... whatever else that could become part of the food we eat.... Way off topic? read and then judge.... I spent most of my formative years without the miracle of modern food technology. Many reading this are third generation chemical swamps. We have proven, time and again, that we will continue to use questionable products until they fuck us up too bad to ignore (R12 was used as a propellant for spray bombs for many years). I have no known allergies and I'm in pretty good shape for the shape that I'm in. The only times I've ever worn nitrile gloves was during rescue operations with the fire department (blood borne pathogens). There's been the odd time the varsol tank has left my hands feeling "funny"... no biggy, it'll pass... I'll admit to "tasting" something to see if it is sweet like antifreeze or not (no, I'm not drinking a glass of it)... it's what us old guys have always done... BUT.... I don't have the benefit of one or two generations of food additives to contend with... My body chemistry could be quite different from someone half my age... And that difference in chemistry could be a sign that my tolerance for <something> is quite different from another persons tolerance... Ever read the side of a package and notice "MAY contain"? 'scuse me??? MAY contain? What... you @ssholes don't know what you put in there? Can I have a double helping, please? Awareness... This new age is the age of information... Maybe we might be better off without some of it... There's a lot of money to be made from "fear-mongering" and we are the prey. I've been doing a lot of things I shouldn't be doing for a lot of years and it hasn't killed me.... unfortunately, I do have to add the qualifier "yet". All the same, some of the stuff we hear/read/are told could be a lot of overkill. The pendulum swings from one extreme to the other... spending only the briefest moment in the middle. If someone feels better for wearing gloves... nitrile or pit.... if they feel better wearing a particle dust mask... ear plugs (too late for me but I always did like a good rock concert and cheap smoke)... or whatever else for safety equipment.. By all means. There is no reason to cause yourself worry. After that... stop yer friggin whimpering /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crybaby2.gif, cowboy up and get the hell back to work...... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseldoc Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 Let it fly Jim. I always find your posts interesting and 99% of the time I learn something from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 There's a lot of money to be made from "fear-mongering" and we are the prey. You can say that again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I've noticied that kid's growing up who have the psycho mother's sterilizing anything and everything, have grown up to be sicker longer, faster, more often. Mysister is a germ freak, she get's sick a lot... I let thing's fly, so i barely ever get sick. I think when ure young, when the germ get's into your system, your body builds anti-bodies for it, your system become's trained since it is used more. The germ freak immune system is weak because the body hasn't fought a lot of battles due to the germ free environment. I wear gloves only because i like to have my hand's clean. For some reason my body doesnt like Mercon 5, so i wear glove's. Maybe better piece of mind. I use Sepreno SE nitrile gloves. They are the perfect thickness to wear I can use a pair a day. They don't break easy, but i still can "feel" what i'm doing. The shitty doctor gloves don't like brake clean and totally break up. Jim aren't we being scared to "do the right thing" on ure off topic rant's? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rofl.gif J/K i can say your rant's have changed me to do the right thing. I just like arguing with you.!! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I guess I am a whimpering glove wearing !@#!?$!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Amacker Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I've noticed that kid's growing up who have the psycho mother's sterilizing anything and everything, have grown up to be sicker longer, faster, more often. My sister is a germ freak, she gets sick a lot... I let thing's fly, so i barely ever get sick. I remember seeing on TV that kids who grow up around pets have less allergies than kids who don't have pets, for the same reason. Originally Posted By: Keith Browning I guess I am a whimpering glove wearing !@#!?$!. I've got my gloves on. Bend over, bitch! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Kindly remove your big ass high school ring first, thank you very much. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/sick.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Kindly remove your big ass high school ring first, thank you very much. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/sick.gif Why, you have to keep thing's interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I used to have some really tough looking hands and I was proud of them. Then I wore gloves for 2 weeks before my wedding. This was actually a compormise, because my wife-to-be wanted me to get a manicure. Then when I found out I was going to be a father I decided on my own that I don't want to handle a baby with dirty looking hands. I have worn latex gloves for everything I do at work ever since. I have heavier gloves I use over my latex gloves when I'm donig fromt end work, droping a engine in, or some seroius hammering. My hands are very clean, but they still get cut, burned and bruised. The gloves protect my skin from chemicals, grease and filth but not from cuts and scrapes. Nobody ever guesses that I'm a mechanic. People usally think I'm a car salesman when they find out where I work. I have never filled out paperwork for a cut, scrape or any other injury at work. I have gone up to my manager and showed him a battle wound just to let him know in case I decided to get it taken care of after work. I don't think gloves should be mandatory. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/2cents.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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