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STEELTOETOOLS
Toolbox talk · 10 min · PPE

Hand Protection and Gloves

Hazards: Cuts and lacerations from blades, sheet metal and banding · Punctures from rebar tie wire, nails and swarf · Chemical absorption and chemical burns · Thermal burns and cold contact · Caught-in or caught-between when a glove is grabbed by a rotating part

Why it matters

Hands are what we work with, and they are the part we put closest to every blade, edge and moving part on this site. A glove is not always the answer — sometimes it is the hazard. In an OSHA accident report from February 9, 2022 (Summary Nr 143758.015), a machine operator was edging a wooden baseplate on a planer when the tip of her glove was caught by the machine roller and her finger was amputated. Right glove, right task, and off where they can be grabbed.

Key points

  • Match the glove to the hazard. 1910.138(a) lists them: absorption, severe cuts, abrasion, punctures, chemical burns, thermal burns, temperature extremes. A leather glove is not a chemical glove.
  • Selection has a method. 1910.138(b): performance characteristics against the task, the conditions, the duration of use and the hazards identified. Read the SDS for the glove material before you handle the chemical.
  • Cut resistance is not puncture resistance. A high cut level stops a blade sliding across; it does not stop tie wire, a nail or a needle. Different hazard, different glove.
  • Gloves off around rotating parts. Drills, lathes, planers, augers, rollers, feed chains. A caught glove takes the hand with it, and no glove is strong enough to stop that.
  • Fit is a requirement now. 1926.95(c), effective January 13, 2025, and 1910.132(d)(1)(iii): PPE selected to properly fit each affected employee. Loose gloves snag; tight gloves come off.
  • Contaminated or torn means done. 1910.132(e) bans using defective or damaged PPE, and a chemical glove keeps absorbing after it is breached. Swap it, do not tape it.

Do / Don't

Do

  • Turn the gloves over and check the palms before you start.
  • Ask for the size that actually fits your hand.
  • Wash and dry hands before putting chemical gloves back on.

Don't

  • Wear gloves at a drill press, lathe, planer or roller.
  • Reach toward a blade or a pinch point to clear a jam.
  • Reuse a chemical glove that is swollen, sticky or torn.

Quick site check

  • Look at the gloves in the circle: right type for what each of us is doing today?
  • Any tears, soaked palms or missing pairs to replace before we start?
  • Which machines here are gloves-off jobs, and does everyone know which ones?
Discussion — ask the crew
  1. Which task on this job actually needs a cut-resistant glove, and which one needs a chemical glove instead?
  2. Where on this site are we running rotating equipment where gloves should come off, not go on?
  3. Whose gloves are the wrong size right now, and what do they do about it?
  4. What chemical do we handle most often here, and has anyone read what glove material its SDS calls for?
  5. How do we get a fresh pair today when one gets soaked, torn or contaminated?
Refs: 29 CFR 1910.138 — Hand protection: general requirement and the basis for selecting gloves · 29 CFR 1910.132 — General requirements: hazard assessment and written certification, training, defective equipment, employer payment · 29 CFR 1926.95 — Criteria for personal protective equipment, construction: design and selection to properly fit each affected employee, and employer payment · 29 CFR 1910.212 — Machine guarding, general requirements for all machines · 29 CFR 1926.28 — Personal protective equipment, construction: the employer is responsible for requiring appropriate PPE wherever there is exposure to hazardous conditions · OSHA Accident Search — Accident Summary Nr 143758.015, event date 02/09/2022Sign-in sheet included in the printed version

Frequently asked questions

It requires appropriate hand protection when hands are exposed to the listed hazards. 29 CFR 1910.138(a) names skin absorption of harmful substances, severe cuts or lacerations, severe abrasions, punctures, chemical burns, thermal burns and harmful temperature extremes. Construction has no separate glove section; the general PPE criteria in 1926.95 and the hazard-driven duty in 1926.28(a) apply instead.

29 CFR 1910.138(b) is explicit about the method: base selection on an evaluation of the performance characteristics of the glove relative to the task performed, the conditions present, the duration of use, and the hazards identified. In practice that means the task, the sharp thing, the chemical and how long the hands are in it — not whatever is in the gang box.

They come from the ANSI/ISEA 105 classification for hand protection, which grades cut resistance by the force needed to cut through a sample. That standard is copyrighted and sold by ISEA, so we do not reproduce its scale here. Use the level printed on the glove, get the current edition from ISEA if you need the test detail, and remember that cut resistance is not puncture resistance.

Around rotating or in-running parts — drill presses, lathes, planers, augers, rollers, feed chains — where a glove that catches pulls the hand in. That risk is why 1910.212(a)(1) requires guarding for hazards such as rotating parts and in-running nip points in the first place. Check the machine manufacturer's instructions and your employer's rule for that machine before deciding.

Yes, and in construction it is now written into the rule. Effective January 13, 2025, 29 CFR 1926.95(c) requires PPE to be of safe design and construction and to be selected to ensure that it properly fits each affected employee. General industry has carried the same duty in 1910.132(d)(1)(iii) since 2016. A glove too big to grip with is a hazard of its own.

Required hand protection is on the employer under 1910.132(h)(1) and 1926.95(d)(1), replacements included, unless the worker lost or intentionally damaged them. The exception is ordinary weather gear: 1910.132(h)(4)(iii) lists gloves worn solely for protection from the weather among the items the employer is not required to pay for.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Results are estimates for planning purposes and do not replace a competent person's evaluation or an engineer's design. Follow the OSHA standards that apply to your work and your employer's written program.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated