Effects of Glove Use in a Coating Removal Task

Abstract

Workers who are in maintenance and repair occupations are routinely exposed to several musculoskeletal disorder risk factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of glove use during a coating removal task, which is a common maintenance and repair task. Nine healthy subjects (5 male and 4 female) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects removed identical painted sections using either a metal finishing (nylon) pad or a plastic scraper, while wearing one of thirteen glove conditions. The order of the glove conditions was randomized for each subject. Force exertions were monitored along with EMG readings from the finger flexors, finger extensors, biceps, and triceps. The results showed that there were significant increases in force outputs and muscle activities when using gloves as compared to a barehanded condition. There was some evidence that indicated glove material and glove thickness are important characteristics in these observations. These findings may have implications for a worker's musculoskeletal disorders risk and for glove selection guidelines in industry.