Article
Assessments of Work Gloves in Terms of the Strengths of Hand
Grip, One-Handed Carrying, and Leg Lifting
Caijun Zhao
1,2
, Kai Way Li
1,
* and Cannan Yi
2,
*
Citation: Zhao, C.; Li, K.W.; Yi, C.
Assessments of Work Gloves in Terms
of the Strengths of Hand Grip,
One-Handed Carrying, and Leg
Lifting. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 8294.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188294
Academic Editor: Paolo Renna
Received: 3 August 2021
Accepted: 3 September 2021
Published: 7 September 2021
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4.0/).
1
Ph.D. Program of Technology Management, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu 30012, Taiwan;
d10803010@chu.edu.tw
2
School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421002, China
* Correspondence: kai@chu.edu.tw (K.W.L.); yicannan310@126.com (C.Y.);
Tel.: +886-03-5186583 (K.W.L.); +86-18711464126 (C.Y.)
Abstract:
Gloves are used at workplaces to protect hands and fingers from potential hazards. Three
types of work gloves were assessed in terms of the strength of grip, carrying, and lifting. Thirty
adults (14 males and 16 females) joined as human participants. The strength data were measured
under bare hand and three gloved conditions. The grip spans in the grip strength measurements
included 45 mm, 55 mm, 65 mm, and 75 mm. The carrying strength was measured for both dominant
and non-dominant hands under leg straight and semi-squat postural conditions. The lifting strength
was measured at a semi-squat posture. The results showed that glove (p < 0.0001), grip span
(
p = 0.001
), gender (p < 0.0001), and handedness (p < 0.0001) all affected grip strength significantly.
Wearing the gloves tested in this study led to a decrease of grip strength up to 22.9%, on average,
depending on gender, grip span, and hand tested. Wearing the cotton gloves led to a decrease of
one-handed carrying strength ranged from 3.5% to 9.7% for female participants. All the participants
took advantages in carrying strength when wearing the cut-resistant gloves. The leg lifting strength
data indicated that the effects of the gloves were insignificant. The information of this study is
beneficial for practitioners in the design of manual materials handling tasks concerning the use of
work gloves.
Keywords: glove; grip span; grip strength; posture; carrying strength; lifting strength
1. Introduction
Abrasions, cuts, and bruises have been some of the leading causes of occupational
injury. In Taiwan, they are the second most common injury type at workplaces [
1
]. Nearly
80% of the abrasions, cuts, and bruises lead to hand or finger injuries. Research [
2
], studying
the incidences involving hand injuries for the US coal mine workers found that 18% of the
total hand injuries were responsible for 84% of the total lost work days for the workers.
The median lost workdays of those workers due to hand injuries were more than 30 days.
The official statistics of the Bureau of Labour of the USA indicated that cuts and lacerations
of hand accounted for 64.8% of all cut and laceration incidents [
3
]. Hand injuries lead to
a substantial economic burden, with both high health-care expenditures and productive
costs [
4
,
5
]. Hand protections at work are essential for both the safety and health of workers
but also for the welfare and well-beings of workers’ families [5].
Work gloves are used for the protection of hands from potential physical, chemical, and
biological hazards [
6
–
12
]. Typical physical hazards of hand exposure at work include cuts
and stabs [
13
], vibrations of tools and machines [
14
–
17
], load and pressure [
18
–
20
], high
and low temperature [
11
,
21
–
23
], and so on. Typical chemical and biological hazards, on
the other hand, include hazardous substances (such as pesticides and acids) and organisms
such as insects, germs, and even viruses [9,12].
Work gloves may impose unwanted effects on hand performance [
21
,
24
]. Gloves
separate the hand and the contact object and thus reduce the tactile sensitivity of the
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 8294. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188294 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
