Posted By Ali
Are there any members who have had experience with "puncture resistant or proof gloves" ? If so, can you recommend a good supplier ? The risk in my company is low enough to justify not using vaccination and the frequency of exposure is low.
Thank you

Posted By Chas
I have used turtleskin gloves in the past and they proved to be good. They are from the US but there are suppliers in UK. I cannot remember where I got mine from, however Google turtleskin gloves and you should get the info you need. Hope this helps.

Posted By Adrian Clifton
Ali

Brian has the right answer. Do not pick them up by hand, use something like litter pickers and place the needles in a sharps container. The sort of gloves mentioned are very expensive and, as far as I am aware, are not puncture proof.

Adrian

Posted By akm
Ali

I looked into this in some detail when working in the water industry as hyperdermic syringes were a persistent problem. Without knowing the work activities involved I may make some assumptions so apologies if I do.

Firstly, with regard vaccinations, would it still not be advisable to warn employees of the hazards involved and advise them of vaccinations that they may or may not require? Tetanus and polio should be done as a matter of practise anyway. Hepatitis of whatever variety is relevant could then be advised (but I question whether it could be insisted upon personally). You can't vaccinate against HIV or leptospirosis anyway which leads on to point 2.

There's no such thing as puncture resistant gloves, only some gloves are better at preventing a puncture than others. I have seen the turtleskin type which I believe are used by the police and other emergency services and are highly regarded. Trouble is, they're not waterproof. A good pair of rubber gloves aren't bad though. Try looking at the Arco catalogue as it gives a good overview of gloves available and explains the various resistance categories.

Lastly, as already posted, every effort should be made to avoid direct contact - no putting fingers where you can't see, using boards/rakes for picking up grass cuttings etc. You can buy sharps kits for about £4.50 which containg a sharps box, tweezers, antiseptic spray etc. Unfortunately I can't for the life of me remember where I used to get them from but try various first aid suppliers. Remember to consider how you get rid of a used sharps box - try contacting your local drugs support clinic.

One other thing whilst i think of it...if you have a facility where people have a tendency to shoot up, try installing UV lighting; apparently its difficult to see your veins (or so I'm told).

Hope that's of help

Alastair

Posted By Chris Packham
The best puncture proof glove that I have come across is the Stichstopp glove from KCL in Germany. This comprises a double glove, the outer merely designed to protect the inner, being a nitrile coated cotton glove. The inner glove is Kevlar with the critical surfaces (palms, fingers and finger tips and wrists) covered by overlapping thin plates of coated tool steel. You can literally push a needle directly at these areas (which studies have shown are those involved in around 98% of all needlestick injuries) and the needle will break.

For more information try www.kcl.de

Chris