Protecting your hands

Key points

1. 1Match the glove to the job: cut-resistant for sheet metal and glass, leather for rebar and rough material, chemical gloves for concrete, solvents, and adhesives.
2. 2Check your gloves before you put them on. If they have holes, worn spots, or are soaked through, get a new pair.
3. 3Keep your hands out of pinch points. Watch where your fingers are when setting material, closing gates, or guiding a load, and use a tag line or push stick instead of your hand.
4. 4Never remove or tie back a guard on a saw or grinder. Unplug or lock out the tool before changing a blade, bit, or clearing a jam.
5. 5Cut away from your body and your other hand, and use a sharp, retractable utility knife.
6. 6Do not wear gloves, rings, or loose sleeves around drill presses or other rotating parts that can catch and pull your hand in.
7. 7Wash concrete and chemicals off your skin right away, and report every cut or burn so it gets cleaned and treated.

Talk it over

• What task on our site right now puts your hands at the most risk?
• Do you have the right gloves for what you're doing today, and are they in good shape?
• Where have you seen a pinch point or a missing guard, and how do we fix it?

Also in the other language: Protege tus manos

Official sources

• 29 CFR 1926.95 — Criteria for personal protective equipmentecfr.gov

More toolbox talks

• Overhead power lines
• Hot work: welding, cutting, torches
• Stairways on the job