Protective gloves are dedicated to industries, workplaces, as well as individual customers for daily use in household or gardening. Their task is to protect the user’s hand from both dirt and various types of injuries.

Protective gloves are a very wide range, so choosing them is not easy. Therefore, it is worth finding out what gloves to choose for each work.

It is worth bearing in mind that not every glove on the health and safety market is a personal protective equipment within the meaning of our country’s health and safety regulations. Many of them are only work gloves that protect against dirt and harmless substances to health and life.

The overarching base standard for all gloves is EN420. This standard sets out the general requirements and appropriate test procedures including: glove design and construction, harmlessness, resistance of glove materials to water penetration, comfort and effectiveness, marking and information provided by the manufacturer, which apply to all protective gloves. EN 420 can also be used for arm protectors as well as gloves permanently connected to safety housings. This European standard does not concern the protective properties of gloves and should therefore not be used as a separate standard but together with the relevant European standards in question.

In March 2020, EN420 was modified to become EN ISO 21420:2020. Manufacturers of protective gloves must ensure that the materials used in the manufacture of their products do not affect the health of the operator. The modified EN ISO 21420 standard, which replaced EN420, builds on this trend, thus focusing on safety. The revised standard redefes the general requirements and testing methods for: glove design and construction, safety, comfort and effectiveness, as well as the labelling and information provided by the manufacturer applicable to all protective gloves.

Choosing the right protective gloves is not easy. Several important safety factors should be taken into account. It is the employer’s responsibility to choose the personal protective equipment necessary for the use of a particular position. The correct selection of personal protective equipment requires an analysis of the need for these measures at the workplace. When choosing protective gloves should take into account:

• the type of work performed,
• the degree of exposure of the hands,
• hazards at the workplace,
• the formulation of which part of the hand is most exposed to dangerous factors (this allows you to make the right choice of glove design).

Due to the protective properties of the gloves, we divide the gloves into:

• gloves to protect against chemical and biological agents
• gloves to protect against thermal agents
• protective gloves against mechanical agents
• insulating gloves
• anti-vibration gloves
• gloves intended for use in hazardous areas.

Due to the design of protective gloves, we divide them into:

• mittens
• shortened fingers
• three-finger gloves
• five-finger gloves

Source: https://bezpieczenstwo-bhp.pl/blog/300_przewodnik-po-rekawicach-ochronnych.html

• Is there a limitation period for reporting an accident at work?

Article 3 of the Law on social insurance for accidents at work and occupational diseases introduces the definition of 'accident at work’. According to him, an „accident at work” is a sudden event caused by an external cause causing injury or death that occurred:

• during or in connection with the performance by the employee of the ordinary activities or instructions of his superiors;
• during or in connection with the performance of the employee’s activities on behalf of the employer, even without instructions;
• while the worker is at the employer’s disposal on the way between the employer’s registered office and the place where the obligation arising from the employment relationship is exercised.

For an event to be considered an accident at work, it is necessary to have a total occurrence of all the elements listed in the definition. It is on the correct assessment and interpretation of the incident by the accident team that the accident is determined to be an 'accident at work’.

As a general rule, after reporting an accident at work, the employer is obliged to carry out an accident procedure. On the other hand, the provisions do not specify when the notification should take place. Consequently, it may be considered that there is no such thing as a limitation period for reporting an accident at work.

§ 2 of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on the determination of the circumstances and causes of accidents at work specifies that a worker who has suffered an accident at work should immediately inform his superior (if his state of health so allows). Clarification of the issue should be sought without delay in judicial case-law, which is not consistent with that.

In conclusion, an accident at work must be reported without delay, but there is no precise time limit within which to doso in Polish legislation. Thus, the limitation period for reporting an accident at work does not exist and the employer should set up an accident team, even if the employee notifies about the accident several years after the event.

Source: https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-przedawnienie-zgloszenia-wypadku-przy-pracy

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.