The donning and doffing of disposable gloves requires some care. The biggest danger is stretching the material too much. Knowing how to remove single-use gloves in the correct way is an essential part of keeping your hands safe.
Expert’s Tip: When practicing removing disposable gloves, make sure they are not contaminated. That way, if it takes a few tries, you won’t have to worry about what your bare skin might come into contact with. Here is the step-by-step method:
- Grab the outside of glove A by the wrist, slightly below the opening. Avoid touching bare skin with the glove fingers or let bare skin get in contact with the outside of the glove. Pull the glove towards the hand.
- Pull glove A towards and over the fingers so that you turn it inside out. Pull the glove inside out until it clears the hand.
- Hold glove A in the palm of the other hand. Slip a few fingers from the other hand under the rim of glove B. Avoid touching the outside of the glove with bare fingers or let the outside of the glove get in contact with bare skin.
- With the bare fingers still on the inside of glove B, “peal” it off the hand by turning it inside out with the fingers so that it covers glove A.
- Make sure that glove B capsulates glove A completely so that only the inside of glove B is visible. Pull glove B with the inside out completely off the hand. Dispose of the gloves in a proper manner.
Why is this so important?
Your skin protects your organs and acts as a barrier that guards against micro-organisms and chemicals. Even though your skin protects your body, your skin needs protection too. Your skin works hard to keep contaminants out, but some contaminants will be absorbed by the skin unless you are wearing the correct PPE. Wearing the correct gloves means that contaminants cannot be absorbed however, if you do not remove the gloves in the right way, you may expose your hands.
Being mindful is vital.
As humans, we subconsciously use gestures such as touching our faces and brushing hair from our foreheads. These simple gestures could spread contaminants and put you and your co-workers at risk. For this reason, it is vital that you are mindful of what you touch.
If you tuck a gloved finger into the cuff of a disposable glove to pull it off, you will contaminate the skin inside the glove. If you pull at the fingertips, you might rip the glove or it might go flying across the room causing contamination. You could end up contaminating doorknobs, keys, clothes and even family members if you are not mindful.
So, a blog about how to remove your gloves may seem silly but the reality is that removing disposable gloves correctly is just as important as wearing them in the first place. For any assistance, chat to one of our Knight Safety Gear Disposable Glove Experts: enquiries@knightsafetygear.com