Hand Gloves & Compliances

Guidance for appropriate use

Though worker awareness for using gloves is high in hospitals, it has to be on par with utility for proper and appropriate use. “Appropriate task for gloves usage is not adhered always. We encourage users by continuous training and awareness and by sensitizing that every patient has to be considered sero positive. Both donning and doffing are equally important,” says Rani Dharanipathy, Chief Nursing Officer, Billroth Hospitals, Chennai.

At Raheja, there is induction training given to staff. In service training sessions for various categories of staff, awareness of infection control practices, include use of personal protective equipment, standard precautions and isolation precautions. Also the training includes appropriate steps of wearing personal protective gear and method of discarding same as per biomedical waste disposal rules prescribed by government authorities.

In cases of non-compliance

If glove usage is skipped, hazards are many, points out Dr Dhruv. “Risk of blood borne infections like Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV is one of the major risk factors, especially in countries with high prevalence rates. When gloves get punctured through a sharp object or during surgery, it poses a risk of blood and body fluid exposure. Hand hygiene needs to be performed in such cases and use of fresh pairs of gloves is worn.”

To avoid these exigencies, emphasises Jayachandran, “The users should be educated. Use of gloves should be made mandatory and it should be the responsibility of the floor manager or supervisor at site and part of the SOP of all companies.”

The glove industry does not have any compliance norms. But with the tightening of environment protection measures, the industry could experience some serious manufacturing guideline changes. Dr Dhruv explains thus.

“The coatings normally used on medical gloves include hydrogels, acrylics, silicone polymer, polyurethane, polymer-blends and nitrile. Polymer coatings are odour-neutral and promote consistentcy. In latex gloves, polymer coatings provide a barrier between the latex glove material and the wearer, helping to limit the migration of latex protein. Both chlorination and polymer coatings are effective at creating a glove that dons and doffs easily. Done correctly, both processes yield gloves that exceed standards for hand protection.

“The government is coming up with new guidelines of biomedical waste management which mentions about phasing out of chlorine compounds, including gloves and blood bags. Accordingly, the latex gloves need to undergo the process of chlorination for significantly reducing the level of extractable latex proteins, making the glove less likely to cause latex allergy in the wearer. Nitrile exam gloves are chlorinated when no polymer coating is preferred. Slowly the polymer coated gloves will overtake if government policies for protecting environment are strictly adhered.”

Nonetheless, compliances can be built in each application and adherence can be experienced only through awareness and education.