Maintenance workers in refineries regularly use stainless steel slotted shims to level and maintain pumps, motors, and machines. While steel shims provide optimal efficiency in maintaining equipment, they also create a dangerous hazard for hands at work.
Since pump and machine maintenance is an ongoing process, workers are constantly handling shims, which increases the potential for injury.
Maintenance worker has multiple injuries working with shims
While a slotted shim is a common, helpful tool for maintenance workers in oil refineries, the shim’s handy tab and corners can become sharp hazards that can cause serious injury. The often paper-thin stainless steel shims can be razor-sharp and are easily capable of slicing through ordinary leather maintenance gloves, Kevlar®, or cotton work gloves.
HexArmor® had interviewed a refinery maintenance worker who received several recordable lacerations to his thumb and index finger, as well as smash injuries to his knuckles while working with steel shims.
One recent injury required stitches, and due to the location of the wound, the worker was off the job for two weeks. After these costly incidents, the safety team began looking for a better hand protection solution.
HexArmor® provides needed protection from razor-sharp shim edges
Before returning to work after the injury, HexArmor® provided the same worker with a pair of Chrome Series® 4026 mechanics’ gloves. While performing routine maintenance using a metal shim, the worker received an almost identical type of cut from the shim. This time, however, his hand was not cut and he did not have to leave work that day.
While the sharp edge of the shim slashed the exterior synthetic leather covering the finger and palm of the glove, it had no effect on the SuperFabric® brand material underneath.
HexArmor® products with SuperFabric® exceed ANSI/ISEA level A8 cut protection, which played a huge role in saving this worker’s finger.
This worker continued to use the same HexArmor® gloves for weeks after the incident, claiming that: “They were just as good as ever.”
In order to create this case study, we had to bargain with the worker to give up his HexArmor® gloves for a new pair – a small price for progress in designing the best PPE in the business.
Chrome Series® 4026
The HexArmor® Chrome Series® 4026 mechanics glove was made to handle the sharp edges of steel shims and other laceration hazards.
These gloves provide the highest levels of cut protection on the market, exceeding industry ratings of ANSI/ISEA level A8 cut resistance and a superior back-of-hand impact protection system that utilizes an advanced design to dissipate forceful blows over a large area.
Learn more about Chrome Series® 4026 gloves
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