Protective gloves, hand grip strength, and dexterity tests: A comprehensive study

Area of Science:

• Occupational Safety and Health
• Human Factors Engineering
• Ergonomics

Background:

• Protective gloves are essential in various industries but can impede hand performance indicators (HPIs).
• Understanding the specific impacts of different glove types on manual dexterity and grip strength is crucial for user safety and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive and comparative investigation of several types of protective gloves and their effects on HPIs.
• To evaluate the efficacy of different HPI assessment tools in distinguishing glove-induced performance changes.

Main Methods:

• Seventeen healthy male participants were recruited.
• Four types of protective gloves (two structural firefighting, two general protective) were tested.
• Performance was assessed using four distinct dexterity tests and a bulb dynamometer.

Main Results:

• Structural firefighting gloves significantly impaired manual dexterity, whereas general protective gloves did not show significant differences in dexterity.
• Firefighting gloves did not significantly affect hand grip strength, but general protective gloves did.
• The hand tool dexterity test demonstrated the highest discrimination power among the assessed HPI tools.

Conclusions:

• Structural firefighting gloves impose a greater negative impact on HPIs compared to general protective gloves.
• A necessary trade-off exists between the safety requirements provided by protective gloves and their effect on hand performance.
• The hand tool dexterity test is recommended for its high sensitivity in evaluating glove-induced performance decrements.