Why workers dismiss hand protection and what can be done to break bad habits

Here’s a common misperception about non-compliance: it’s not that workers never wear their gloves. The more significant issue is workers are removing their gloves at critical points throughout the workday. That behaviour can be tied to habit.

It’s not unusual to see workers remove gloves to sign invoices or tracking documents or to check their phone, and all those behaviours can become habitual.

This all matters because workers make these sorts of choices every day. They decide either to wear gloves or remove the gloves for some reason or another. Their comfort zone when it comes to PPE is formed over time.

To increase compliance and break the “habit loop”, employers must help workers redefine their COMFORT ZONE™. This requires technology advances to gloves, along with improved education around safety practices and a far more thoughtful, proactive approach to changing behaviour and breaking counterproductive habits.