The Impact of Protective Gloves on Manual Dexterity in Cold Environments—A Pilot Study

Joanna Orysiak, Magdalena Młynarczyk and Emilia Irzmańska
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Joanna Orysiak: Department of Ergonomics, Central Institute for Labour Protection—National Research Institute, Czerniakowska St. 16, 00-701 Warsaw, Poland
Magdalena Młynarczyk: Department of Ergonomics, Central Institute for Labour Protection—National Research Institute, Czerniakowska St. 16, 00-701 Warsaw, Poland
Emilia Irzmańska: Department of Personal Protective Equipment, Central Institute for Labour Protection—National Research Institute, Wierzbowa St. 48, 90-133 Lodz, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Our research aimed to determine the impact of two types of protective gloves. The research tested the glove performance on men exposed to a range of temperatures reflecting the working conditions in fruit and vegetable processing. The gloves were assessed for performance within the time required to complete a specific manual task and for performance relative to the subjective thermal sensations in the male subjects. Six males participated in a total of 3 study variants: at +5 °C (with double gloves and single glove), at −1 °C (with double gloves and single glove) and in reference conditions +20 °C (without gloves), in which they performed manual tasks. The measurement of manual task performance time was used to assess manual dexterity. Subjective thermal sensations were determined. Differences in the time required to complete specific tasks were observed between the variants with gloves (both at a temperature of +5 °C and −1 °C), and without gloves ( p < 0.05). The type of protective gloves had an impact on the time needed to complete manual tasks and therefore may affect manual dexterity.

Keywords: cold environment; manual dexterity performance; hand performance; protective gloves; performance time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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