Files, Puncture Wounds and Gloves!
An iron fist in a velvet glove
Charles V, who said these words, was describing someone who appears soft but is actually particularly tough. The reality for many forestry workers can be the opposite while they do the hard yard, and look tough, their hands are no more durable than the hands of any other person and numerous incidents show that this is true for example:
FIPS 8285 26/09/2016: A worker was putting a file into a wooden handle. The handle was rotten and so the file went straight through the handle and the sharp end went into his thumb. The wound became infected and the injury caused lost time.
Forestry work typically involves the hands and so an injury such as the one described above is going to be limiting for the person involved. A puncture injury often worsens if infection sets in and could take months to heal because of antibiotic resistance.
PCBUs, Workers and the ACOP Rules!
The HSWA 2015, s. 36, shows that a PCBU (typically the business that employs workers) is duty bound to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers. Workers too, (s. 45) must take reasonable care of their own health and safety!
The ACOP, on p. 30 (s. 3.8) says, "Gloves of the appropriate material shall be worn when there is the potential for harm." PF Olsen's own rule adds that gloves shall comply with EN 388:1994 (or similar) standard. It is important that people start using protective gloves thereby reducing these needless and senseless injuries!
View this article in Safety Bulletin 103