The dangerous nature of some industrial jobs, like those in Texas’ oil and gas industry, have made it necessary to discover and implement a variety of personal protective equipment as a way to make workers safer. All types of new and innovative technologies have combined to save workers’ lives and to keep bodies and limbs safe.
Jobs in the Texas oil fields are c0nsidered essential for the energy industry, which is considered essential to the needs of Americans in all walks of life. That said, though the oil and gas industry is essential to everyone, oil and gas extraction is a dangerous job. That’s why so many of them are known as Roughnecks.
The Need for Protective Gloves In Stressful Situations
Because “Roughnecks” tend to be strong, agile and trained to take mechanical and situational oil field jobs in stride, their use of oil field gloves for safety have come to play a giant role in making their jobs both easier and more stable. Oil and gas workers’ hands are the only sensory body parts that come in direct contact with machines they use and which endure a number of strenuous situations. That makes oil field gloves essential equipment for oil and gas workers in many situations. They provide a lot of protection against various industrial hazards like cuts, abrasions, punctures and other injuries that occur in unexpected situations.
In addition to basic safety, there are many practical reasons why oil field workers need personal protective equipment like oil field gloves. For example, failure to use oil field gloves may cause damage to machines, in addition to injuries that are potentially catastrophic, like the loss of fingers or a hand, or even fatal. Many oil field workers have lost fingers or hands while performing everyday tasks, which is why oil field glove manufacturers follow a strict set of OSHA guidelines to prevent such a thing. These gloves are built to provide an optimal level of protection and they are time tested, which means they are proven to have prevented a good number of fatal accidents.
Why It’s Important to Rely on Personal Protective Equipment in the Oil and Gas Industry
The tasks workers in the oil and gas industry must undertake on the job are often physically exhausting and among the most difficult and strenuous of a variety of industries. Many oil and gas tasks are also extremely repetitive and also have the potential to create injuries through vibration. Also, since they work around oil, the possibility of slippage is a very real risk. That is why oil field gloves have a number of stitches and grippy material to make it less likely to lose their grip on the machines and other equipment oil and gas workers must be most careful while using.
Any experienced oil field worker recognizes the extreme importance of oil field gloves, and few who know about them would ever compromise their safety by not wearing them on the job. Often, oil and gas workers must break apart stone, especially as part of the mining process and that stone breaking can lead to damage to fingers, including ligaments and knuckles, and the strong and rigid material used in oil field gloves provide a lot of protection to that type of damage as well.
An example of the evolution of these types of gloves is that oil field gloves were long constructed of leather, which was long considered the best material available., but leather has given way to more innovative technologies like thermoplastic rubber, molded material, durable plastic, Hi- Spandex and various other impact-absorbing materials replaced it.
Oil and Gas Industrial Injuries Are On the Rise
Recently, the high fatality rate in the the oil and gas industry has created plenty of concern among safety experts and officials. Even though OSHA has created strict guidelines and instructions regarding the use of oil field gloves on the job, many employers and workers have decided not to use these safety items. It is imperative that industry leaders consider their workers as an asset and their decision to ignore OSHA guidelines could very well cost them in the long run.
In addition to spreading awareness of the need for oil field gloves, there should also be provisions in the law providing for strict penalties for those who allow workers to do their jobs without proper protection. Right now, anything that could reduce the number of worker accidents and fatalities at oil and gas sites should be welcome, and oil field gloves are a critical personal protective device that should be required for all workers in the oil and gas industry.