High performance cut resistant clothing for glaziers or glass workers, whose responsibilities include the transporting, handling and cutting of glass, are a very effective and efficient way of reducing the risk of accidental cut injuries.

When working with glass, it is of course of great importance to wear the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to shield the worker’s body from injury in case the glass breaks or shatters on impact. Eye gear is required when doing any sort of cutting or grinding, and is of equal importance to wear cut resistant clothing that protects against accidental cuts.

The priority, of course, has to be to provide adequate information on safety precautions and training on the handling of glass to all employees and to develop and implement a safe system of work.  However, it is a matter of fact that injuries will always occur as long as human being exists. Our focus or concentration at work can easily be compromised by a number of variables we cannot control, such as personal circumstances, amount of sleep, health and even how much an individual enjoys their job role.

Understanding this, our second key objective besides the prevention of an accident, must be the prevention of cut injuries in case mechanical or human errors occur.  This is where cut resistant clothing can help.  Just like a seat belt in our car, we can hope as much as we want that we will never need our seat belt, and we can believe as much as we want in our own great driving abilities.  Unfortunately, one day our car might fail to work correctly, or it might be someone else who makes a major driving error, and in such moment our seat belt will drastically increase our chance of survival or reduce the risk of serious injury.

The International Labour Organization has observed that an estimated 50 million work related injuries occur every year or 160,000 every day.  Their study of 263 glass workers at a one particular glass factory in 2003 and 2004 concluded that 59.3% have suffered from cut related injuries at work.

Figures from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK clearly show the glass and metal handling industry is among the most dangerous in the UK, accounting for nine per cent of the total workforce and 16 per cent of reportable accidents.

Better protection for example, would have prevented serious injury to Ian Swain, a glass worker whose arm was cut to the bone when a sheet of glass shattered in his hand in 2009, severing the artery, muscle and nerves in his right arm.

The Health & Safety Executives stated clearly that if Ian Swain would have been provided with full arm protection he would have avoided serious injury.

Following similar serious cut related injuries and even the loss of life, and after having very carefully evaluated the financial, legal and moral consequences following such accidents, the world’s leading glass handling firms have issued their workforce with appropriate PPE over the past few years.  Have you? Or are you aware of the latest developments within the world of cut resistant clothing?

UK based PPSS Group are global leader in this market.  Our range of high performance cut resistant clothing has been tested to European (EN 388:2003 Level 5), International (ISO 13997:1999 Level 5) and American (ASTM F-1790-05 Level 4) blade cut resistance standards and all available test results confirm its truly outstanding cut protection levels.

Made out of 100% Cut-Tex® PRO, PPSS cut resistant clothing offers an equal high level of comfort and protection and is now available from highly respected licensed distributors in numerous countries around the world, or direct from us here in the UK.

Our 2012 range of cut resistant sweatshirts, jackets, sleeves (arm guards) and aprons can be viewed here

Please note we are dedicated and also specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of bespoke cut resistant garments based on our customer’s operational risks and design requirements.

Please email [email protected] visit www.ppss-group.com or call +44 (0) 845 5193 953

For intellectual property/copyright reasons, Cut-Tex PRO labelled products cannot be sold and delivered to Germany!