Dear All,

Is there any regulatory advise or a best practice advise on NOT using gloves while operating rotating equipments such as drilling machines or lathe machines?

Regards,

PN

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg129.pdf

HSG129 mentions not wearing gloves where this can significantly contribute to entrapment

Sometimes you have to weigh up the risks, not getting your glove/hand trapped in rotating machinery or picking up some shards from cutting...I know which one I would choose.

Gloves must not be used with rotating equipment; the HSE state 'Many serious accidents that occur in engineering workshops could be avoided if the wearing of gloves was prevented whilst working in close proximity to rotating machinery such as drills and lathes'

Degloving or lose of digits or worse.  Personally I have seen a shirt caught in rotating equipment (many years ago) the operator was lucky and just suffered friction burns and he literally lost his shirt from his back.  I am also aware of a person using a lathe with gloves and emery cloth who lost 4 fingers when he was drawn in.  If you have a strong stomach you can google some incidents.  HSE provide good guidance on emery cloth and lathes, but gloves getting caught in rotating equipment is just as serious.

https://press.hse.gov.uk/2019/11/01/farm-equipment-manufacturer-fined-after-employees-arm-pulled-into-lathe/

A company has been fined after a worker was injured when his arm was pulled into a metalworking lathe.

Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard how in January 2018, an employee was using emery cloth to hand-polish a workpiece, as it was being rotated on a Colchester Mascot 1600 manual lathe at the site in Woodbridge, Suffolk. The employee was wearing gloves when he got caught on the rotating chuck, causing his arm to be pulled into the machine. As a result, his arm became fractured in four places.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that employees were not provided with the necessary training, information or instructions to carry out this work in a safe manner. There was no risk assessment, nor company policy on the dangers of using emery cloth or wearing gloves while operating a lathe. Furthermore, the lathe was in operation without an emergency stop fitted to the machine.

Richard Western Limited of Woodbridge, Suffolk, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company has been fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,717.19.

After the hearing HSE inspector Eleanor Kinman said: “This injury was easily preventable, and the risk should have been identified by the company. It was common practice to polish workpieces in the way the employee was doing, and to wear gloves whilst operating the lathes.

“Operatives and companies should be aware that emery cloth should never be applied directly by hand on a lathe, and that the wearing of gloves increases the risk of entanglement and is never acceptable near rotating parts of machinery. “Employers must properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk whilst operating machinery.”

Edited by user 19 November 2019 16:59:12(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

This was discussed recently and I don't normally see a problem with the nitrile style of glove which will tend to tear before causing any injury whilst giving some protection against grease etc.  However, draw the line against using  the more typical leather or more robust rubber gloves.  

Agree that 'no gloves' has always been a basic rule for rotating machinery, especially pillar drills and lathes.

However, my viewswere challenged more recently by the close-fitting gloves available these days. I also note a very recent SHP court report referred to "employees were not warned about the increased dangers of entanglement when wearing heavy-duty gloves of the type being worn at the time of the incident".

https://www.shponline.co.uk/in-court/entanglement-risk-was-ignored-by-company/?elq_mid=2695&elq_cid=35942 

Close fitting cut resistant synthetic gloves still resist being torn away as I found out when holding screws (I know!!) and then power driving them in, even gently, caused snagging enough to pull the glove off. Obviously not high torque machinery, but an interesting personal experiment.

Gone back to 'no gloves' as the rule for pillar drill at work. And properly using clamps - this is often a 'reason' operators used heavy duty gloves to hold the workpiece.