Those of you who work in the food industry probably know that there are many risks of injury where you work every day. In fact, food industry jobs are known to carry the highest risk of hand injury. In order to prevent potentially debilitating injuries and extended time off work, it is important for you to understand the most common places for hazards in the food industry and what gloves are best to help you and your employees stay safe.
The employees most likely to get injured and burned are the chef’s and cooks, more than other chef assistants and wait staff. This makes sense since the chefs and cooks are the ones dealing with most of the equipment and are the ones most often exposed to things that can burn, cut or injure them in some other way.
The good news is that no matter what task you’re faced with in the food service industry, there is a level of glove protection that will suit your needs. The revised cut resistance classification now has 9 levels of resistance ranging from light cut hazards to high cut hazards. These levels are determined by the amount of grams of pressure required to make a cut. Level one is any where from 200-499 ranging up to level 9 that can handle 6000+ grams.
Glove Materials
Nylon: Nylon work gloves tend to be some of the most popular options for food service because of their durability and high cut resistance. Some nylon gloves also have foam nitrile palm coatings which enhance the grip that these gloves offer. They are perfect for heavy duty and high risk tasks in the food industry.
Synthetic fiber yarn: A synthetic fiber work glove will provide exceptional durability and high levels of cut resistance which makes them perfect for higher risk tasks in the food industry. Many gloves constructed with synthetic fiber have an ANSI cut resistance level of 4 or higher and are very strong.
Vinyl: Disposable vinyl gloves are also very popular in the food service industry because they are very economical, they have great comfort and they are puncture and tear resistant.
Latex: Disposable latex gloves are very popular in the food service industry because it allows wearers to maintain excellent flexibility and dexterity while they work. However, latex always presents the risk of allergic reactions.
Nitrile: Disposable nitrile gloves are everything that is great about latex gloves, but without the risk of allergies. They also do a pretty good job at resisting stags and rips, making them ideal for light to moderate food prep.
