In late 2020, our product development team at Leedsafe identified a critical gap in the market - the absence of purpose-fit impact protection gloves in the New Zealand ports. Determined to address this challenge, our team of experts collaborated closely with our manufacturer to engineer an exceptional solution – the Robuck Orca Impact Protection Gloves.
Our Research:
After identifying this need, our product development team have looked at how we can make an impact-resistant glove, specifically for port workers which provides better hand protection and durability features than the product they are currently using.
We started by talking to the wearers of the glove to find the problems that they face while carrying out their jobs.
Our Solution:
After a lot of research, product trials and feedback, we have developed an environmentally friendly glove, which we know, exceeds the performance of the current gloves used at Ports and has additional advantages which we will cover below.
Continuous Improvement:
At Leedsafe our product development team is constantly watching market trends, listening to customer feedback, reviewing and updating.
Safety:
Hand Injuries are one of the most common lost time injuries in the workplace.
Safety is the most important aspect of a glove in the port environment. The wearers of these gloves are working to a tight schedule; handling heaving steel, twist locks, lashing poles and other heavy unforgiving objects which can crush, pinch, pierce and cut hands at any time.
The new Robuck gloves have more protection on the fingers with more robust TPR across the glove.
How do they test?
These gloves have been tested to the EN388:2016 standard and have a rating of 3131X
- Abrasion Rating: (3)
- Cut rating (1)
- T (Tear resistance 3)
- P (puncture resistance 1)
- X (new cut not measured
Test results show that these gloves have a greater tear resistance than gloves currently used in NZ ports. This will result in the gloves lasting longer and ultimately - improving safety outcomes.
Environmental sustainability:
Leedsafe is ISO 14001 certified, meaning we have targets to meet that drive continuous improvement.
The palm of the new Robuck impact protection gloves are made of 100% natural goatskin leather. Leather decomposes in 25-50 years where as plastics take around 450 - 500 years to decompose.
For the liner of this glove, we wanted a sustainable material. We identified a liner that is 7% Spandex and 93% recycled polyester. There is a considerable amount of recycled plastic that goes into each glove. Each pair of gloves = two recycled plastic bottles.