Viewpoint: Construction Accidents
Hand Safety and Gloves: How Much Protection Can You Buy?
Help us investigate for ENR's next safety-related feature
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How often do construction workers lose some of their hand use from job-related wear-and-tear?
How many small accidents, some too minor to make it into the OSHA logs, take a toll over the years?
What are the costs of hand and fingers getting crunched and crushed?
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And how do some of the higher-tech work gloves now on the market do when it comes to protecting against impact, laceration, electrical shock, abrasions and chemicals?
ENR will try to get answers to these question in the next two weeks, but we need your help.
ENR correspondent Scott Van Voorhis and I are contacting safety advocates, safety managers, SMACNA contractors and glove manufacturers. I'm also totaling up the finger and hand injuries in New York City for the past three years, based on Dept. of Buildings records, and looking into a lawsuit where a jury recently awarded a New York City construction worker millions for the damage he suffered in an accident. But we are eager to learn more.
Hand accidents, of course, have been on the radar for construction contractors and OSHA for many years now. And the hand-related PPE during that time has become more technical. A revised ANSI standard has been in place since 2016.
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No news organization these days, however, gets the job done without a huge assist from its readers and audiences. You are our partners in finding out what needs to be found out and what it means. And so, we ask you to email me at kormanr@enr.com or telephone me directly at 646-477-8968, and I'll take in the messages and acknowledge and return as many messages and calls as I can.
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