According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), electrocution is the fifth leading cause of workplace injuries in the United States with more than 2,000 fatal and more than 24,000 non-fatal electrical injuries reported in the last 10 years. You can take a proactive approach to protect your employees with the help of CBT’s Glove Safety Program. We have a team of industry-leading Safety Specialists on-site to help you create and implement a glove safety strategy in your plant reducing your risk of non-compliance and your employees’ risk of arc flash injuries.
- When should rubber insulating gloves be retested?
According to OSHA 1910.137, gloves must be tested before the first issue and every six months thereafter. In order for you to always have rubber insulating gloves onsite to keep you compliant with NFPA70E standards, we recommend giving us an extra month to complete this testing due to increased lead times.
Does OSHA require the test date to be stamped on the glove?
The date should always be stamped on the glove, and paperwork should always be filed and kept on-site. If OSHA were to request proof of your glove program you would then have everything in order and on-hand to prove compliance.
When should rubber insulating gloves be inspected by the user?
Our recommendation is that gloves should be tested before each and every use. These tests do not need to be difficult – always give your gloves a “once over” to detect any large holes in your PPE. You can then purchase an inflation tool to blow up the gloves and discover any holes or imperfections that may not have been visually detected. Alternatively, you can complete a “roll test” where you roll from arm opening to fingertips and see if air is detected escaping from any surface of the gloves. If your gloves fail any of these tests, they are no longer compliant with NFPA70E standards and must be replaced.
How should rubber insulating gloves be stored?
Rubber insulating gloves are frequently stored incorrectly which drastically increases the risk of puncturing or damaging your equipment. To properly store your gloves, you must separate the rubber insert from the leather glove, store both products with fingers up in the glove bag, button the bag, and hang in a secured space by the hook on the back of the kit. If your hook is missing you can store the gloves in an upright position leaning against a wall or shelf for support.
What is the CBT Glove Testing Program?
CBT’s Glove Testing Program takes the guesswork out of your facility’s glove safety concerns. We recommend having two sets of different colored gloves for each person to easily track which gloves are expired and which are compliant. Our color options are black, red, yellow, and orange.
Your organization will pick a color to use for the first 6 months and about 4-6 weeks before the first color is due to expire, order your second batch. We recommend starting the cycle with black.
Once your second color has come in and you have properly stored away from the expired color, the testing program cycle can begin.
4-6 weeks before the six months is due to expire on the second color, you will send the gloves you had stored away to CBT for testing.
Once the tested gloves have been returned, you will put them into use and properly store the other.
The cycle will repeat itself ensuring you will never be without active gloves on your shelf.
We recommend putting employee names or using internal part numbers on the gloves to identify each glove and keep a corresponding file or log. When gloves are tested, they are returned with a date stamp of the date they were tested. You will also receive a test result form that will need to go into your tracking log.
For more information on CBT’s Glove Testing Program, contact one of our CBT Safety Specialists at: safety@cbtcompany.com.
