by Shane Henson — September 17, 2012—With hand and finger accidents ranking No. 1 in preventable injuries, according to a recent U.S. Department of Labor study, facilities managers and the employees they supervise should take extra precaution to protect their hands, including by wearing gloves on both simple and potentially dangerous jobs.
Managers and workers seeking lightweight, durable, ultra-protective gloves may select those created through a collaboration between Ansell and DuPont. The ActivArmr gloves, manufactured by Ansell, are crafted with the companies’ latest technologies to enable increased dexterity, flexibility, a closer sense of touch, stretch recovery and comfort, along with the cut-protection of DuPont’s Kevlar.
Using combinations of Kevlar, stainless steel, spandex and nylon, the new ActivArmr gloves boast Intercept Technology in a thin, 18-gauge design that is said to be significantly lighter weight than the traditional 13-gauge version. Intercept Technology using DuPont Kevlar Stretch Armor was created using a unique combination of Kevlar fiber and Ansell technology to deliver comfort, dexterity and high cut-resistance.
The gloves are available globally and are specifically suited for specialty trades, such as the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), plumbing and heavy-labor sectors, as well as general contractors. Other gloves in the portfolio are targeted specifically for use by the military.
“The uses of DuPont Kevlar continue to grow in new, innovative ways. Our collaboration with Ansell is a great example of how Kevlar can be spun with other materials to make another series of superior products to better protect people around the world, said Thomas G. Powell, president of DuPont Protection Technologies. This collaboration combined DuPonts fiber and yarn technology with Ansells innovative glove design, tailored for specific applications. In this case, we developed a new manufacturing process to specifically produce ultra-lightweight steel-containing yarn, used in concert with our decades of experience in nylon, spandex and Kevlar fibers.
