With the slowed economy of the past 24 months, industrial employers are challenged to make the most their resources. For many, that can mean bolstering hand protection measures to ensure that valuable employees stay healthy and days-lost-due-to-injury stay low. In this era of high unemployment, employees, too, are more aware of how important it is to remain a healthy member of the workforce.
In general, safety is not something that employers think of as a cost-saving measure. However, with the National Safety Council noting that there are 3.4 billion work-related injuries annually with $156.2 billion spent each year on work-related injuries, safety measures to avoid the cost of injuries become a viable budget consideration. Specifically to the question of hand protection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control cite 1,080,000 hand injuries annually with visits to the emergency room. At the same time, there are 110,000 days annually away from work due to hand and finger lacerations.