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Personal Protective Equipment

How Touch Screen Gloves Work

Brought To You by MCR Safety
Read time: 
3 Minutes

A very sad statistic every glove manufacturer knows (and one that MCR Safety has written about before) is that 70% of workers injure their hands because they were not wearing gloves. Even worse, the remaining 30% were most likely wearing gloves not designed for their specific application.

A very sad statistic every glove manufacturer knows (and one that MCR Safety has written about before) is that 70% of workers injure their hands because they were not wearing gloves. Even worse, the remaining 30% were most likely wearing gloves not designed for their specific application.

The white paper “2015 Workplace Hand Injury Research Study” found three key takeaways: hand injuries are still an issue, comfort comes first, and education is essential. Comfort is one of the main areas MCR has been focused on for the last decade. For example, over the past ten years it has introduced these new and more comfortable options: 

  • N9696 in 2007: a feather-light second skin feeling
  • 9669TR in 2012: a lightweight Touch Screen glove
  • N96970 in 2013: a feather-light shell and BNF breathable coating
  • 9672DT2 in 2014: a feather-light shell with Cut Resistance
  • 9178NFO in 2015: a lightweight, Hi-Vis Cut, and “Touch Screen Friendly”

As you can see, MCR has been taking customer feedback regarding comfort extremely seriously. When MCR hears workers are not wearing gloves because they are not comfortable, MCR knows it is an area it directly influences and one where it can improve safety. As a manufacturer, it is essential MCR does its part in meeting the demands of those needing protection while at work. Otherwise, the MCR statement, “We Protect People,” is just an empty promise. For well over the past decade, you can see that MCR has been taking action and sailing towards the direction of its customers' feedback. 

For MCR, the next takeaway—education—then becomes the most important stage. Keeping today’s safety managers and workers informed of the latest innovations is essential to moving that 70% statistic to a much lower number. This means educating safety managers, users, and distribution on important new technologies, such as touch screen functionality. MCR Safety hopes to accomplish this education portion by diving a little deeper into the subject of touch screen gloves.

Touch Screen Use

The demand for touch screen gloves has been on the rise during the twenty-first century. Some factors effecting this demand are:

  • Increased use of touch screens on the job, such as with iPads.
  • Smartphones used for phone calls.
  • Answering both job-related and personal text messages with smartphones.

As mentioned above, with over 70% of workers not wearing gloves, the last thing a safety manager and company wants to do is provide employees with yet another reason to remove their safety gloves or not even put them on in the first place.

From a manufacturing perspective, MCR recognizes touch screen friendly gloves are essential for workers. Just like the safety manager, MCR does not want that 70% statistic to rise any further. Specifically, if due to not offering the proper safety gear a worker needs for completing modern day-to-day tasks. This is why MCR has been incorporating touch screen technology into our gloves since 2012.

How Touch Screens Work 

Most modern touch screens use capacitive sensing to pick up the touch. This is based on a glass insulator coated with a transparent conductor. When a finger—which is conductive—touches the screen, the capacitance changes and the screen’s circuitry not only picks up this change, but also is able to zero in on the exact location of the touch on the screen. That information is then used to activate an app, use a keyboard, respond to a phone call, etc. 

How Touch Screen Gloves Work

Most gloves are made with non-conductive materials and, as a result, will not work with touch screens. The two ways to overcome this are to use either a conductive coating or conductive threads. 

Conductive coatings can be used on the fingertips or the gloves can be knitted with conductive threads. Currently, MCR uses conductive coatings in our touch screen friendly gloves. However, stay tuned for some new technology set for 2018!

MCR's Touch Screen Gloves

MCR's 9178NFO - Memphis gloves not only offer an ANSI A4 cut protection level, they are also touch screen friendly. This is based on the orange nitrile coating providing both a tacky grip and excellent sense of touch. 

Our other touch screen friendly gloves include the 9669TP Memphis Touch Screen and the N9878BNF Memphis Ninja. Choose the one that’s right for your application.

Protective Gloves Are Critical to Your Workplace and Your Employees

Touch screen gloves are one more way to overcome worker objections to wearing gloves. As you can see from the statistics and no doubt from your own experience, it is vital that workers find the right glove for each specific application as well as find the most comfortable glove. Otherwise, we will see that 70% continue to rise. 

Of course, MCR Safety can help when it comes to all your safety gear needs, including gloves, glasses and garments. Keep in mind, MCR understands that education is a piece it directly impacts too. Please utilize its 360-Degree Protection program and it will help find you the best glove based around your workplace applications and employees' needs.

Previously featured on MCR Safety's blog.

For MCR Safety's full line of gloves, please visit MSCDirect.com.

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MCR Safety has over forty years of experience as a leader in the field of personal protective equipment (PPE). Our assortment of offerings includes gloves, glasses, and garments which are made from the highest quality materials available to ensure maximum safety, comfort, and style.

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