Can I give you a hand with that?  When I hear this always-welcome offer to lend assistance, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that help has arrived.  Hands are truly helpful, and it’s no surprise to me that the hands were the part of the human anatomy selected over all other parts to mean the same thing as “help” in this often-recited question.  Here’s another popular acclamatory phrase that uses hands to symbolize praise: “Congratulations, let’s give him/her a hand!”  In this call for a congratulatory gesture, “hand” symbolizes an expression of approval in the form of applause.  Who doesn’t like to be given a hand (i.e., applause)?   Clapping hands create a delightful noise that we’re taught from an early age to respond to with encouraging satisfaction.  Clap for a little baby and you’ll see my point.  Our hands are so versatile and play such an important role in our day-to-day lives.  It’s no wonder that the familiar phrase “I got to hand it to you” assigns the hand the important responsibility of symbolizing credit.  You got to hand it to the hand: they are handy.  Another one!  This time, the hand symbolizes usefulness.  With all these positive symbols we assign to our hands, you can’t deny that hands are important, right?

Yet, despite all of our hand’s importance, it’s ironic that we habitually place our hands in front of danger all the time.  Think about it: when we trip and fall, instinctively we throw our hands out in front of us to absorb the on-coming crash, hence, protecting our bodies from the impact.  Additionally, when we feel angry or threatened, we ball up our hands into tight fists and use them to defend or protect ourselves.  Despite all of our hand’s helpfulness, praiseworthiness, distinction, usefulness and overall importance, we first think to place our hands in harm’s way.  After all, our ears, toes, or neck don’t offer nearly the same protection that our hands dutifully provide.  The fact that – habitually – we use our hands to shield us from threats of all kind further supports the overall usefulness of this irreplaceable anatomical tool.  It’s no wonder that from a young age children are taught about the grand significance of hands.  I remember that my daughter learned a preschool song about hands that she sang for weeks.  Sadly, she doesn’t sing that cheerful song anymore.  Like my daughter eventually forgot the hand song, people at some point begin to disregard hands and fail to take proper care of them.  Some even go so far as to inadequately protect their hands at work sometimes resulting in injury.     

Let’s get a handle on hand injuries.  In a recent conversation with David Lynn, former OSHA compliance officer and current Vice President of Signature Services at Life and Safety Consultants, he reflected that in his 20 years evaluating workplace safety that hand injuries comprised close to half of the cases he examined and without question all of them were preventable.  Further, the National Safety Council (NSC) reported in their 2013 book of statistics that injuries to the hands (wrist & fingers included) represent 16.5% of all workplace injuries in 2010.  Additionally, Andy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Risk Control Services at Captive Resources (CRI), the largest member-owned group captive insurance consultant in the United States, reports that the average cost of an injury to the hand is about $3700.  So, hand injuries occur often and cost a lot of money!      

Now folks, let’s not lose our grip on safety here!   NSC and CRI report alarming quantitative data about hand injuries but did you catch what Mr. Lynn said?  Here it is again: “All hand injuries are preventable.”  All hands on deck folks! We need to discuss hand safety.  To be clear, when I talk about hand safety, I include the wrist and fingers in the equation.  Like many other safety-related programs, a proper hand safety program should include hazard analysis, awareness training, assessment and periodic evaluation of the program – all necessary and important elements.  But how does an organization deliver a hand safety program that garners management commitment and, more importantly, extends a hand of fellowship to the masses and inspires the folks turning the wrenches and operating the machines?  Accountability and periodic review and evaluation are a must but those elements may not inspire the masses.  A worthwhile hand safety program should offer inspiration equal to the greatness of the amazing appendages that are our hands!  We need a program worthy to be considered “hands-on” that will protect the hands that labor in the workplace trenches. 

One such hand safety program that does inspire the masses in my opinion is MoveSMART’s HandSmart® module.  HandSmart® focuses on teaching practitioners how the entire body effects hand safety and leveraging mental awareness.  Sounds intuitive, I know, but participating in a MoveSMART module is pleasingly revealing how simple safety can be.  However, what is truly unique about HandSmart® is the hands-on approach in which the program is disseminated throughout an organization.  The greatness of HandSmart® is that delivery of the program is peer-to-peer.  Training Experts from all organizational levels and disciplines are instructed how to teach the martial arts and athletics inspired tenets on which HandSmart® is built to peers with which instructors work elbow to elbow.  In this way HandSmart’s® powerful principles are broadly accepted by those peers, hence, achieving wide spread acceptance.  Peer-to-peer delivery and accountability is key to a successful hand safety program and HandSmart’s® prescribed training approach achieves it in a wonderful way.  So how about a high five for hand safety programs that achieve wide- spread employee involvement and acceptance? 

Once management has invested in a hand safety program like HandSmart® and cleared the way for a peer-to-peer-driven program, the next step is to ensure proper hand safety resources are applied.  These resources include personal protective equipment (PPE) for hands, hand tool selection and maintenance and a substantial safety evaluation method.   PPE is a critical element of hand safety but should not comprise the entirety of your hand safety program.  Deciding upon the most ideal PPE to protect hands from hazards is an important last protection that falls behind hazard elimination, policy and guarding the hazard all together.  A word of warning: PPE for hands that is doled out thoughtlessly but with good intention can be a problem disguised as a solution.  For example, the wrong size gloves may protect the hands from the apparent hazard like heat or sharp edges but, if they don’t fit properly, they may reduce dexterity, grip and a multitude of other possible issues.  Hand PPE should be carefully matched to address the actual hazard and accurately sized to fit the hand on which it protects.    

Not all hand tools are created equal.  With that notion in mind, select the tool that offers the best protection for the hands, train employees to correctly use the tool and take special care to keep the tool in tip-top shape.  Like our hands, hand tools are often thrust into harm’s way to get the job done resulting in wear and tear.  For this reason, it is a wise practice to institute regular inspections of tools to identify hazards like sharp edges and worn out insul
ation that arise due to normal use.  Too often we use hand tools that are damaged past the point of safe condition.  It’s easy to spot wear and tear on a tool like broken or cracked parts, dull blades and other such normal deterioration do to normal handling and use, but we if never take time to inspect, the hand may be bitten by the damaged tool resulting in injury.    

How we use our hand tools is also important.  Again, not all tools our hands use are created equal, especially ergonomically speaking.  Truth be told, folks don’t often correctly use the hand tools that are brilliantly designed for task comfort in the correct way.  We all have the freedom to use hand tools the way we feel most inclined, even if the way we’re using the tool is – in the long run – harmful.  It’s best if tool use is monitored with a behavior-based evaluation.  In this way, through evaluation, over-use type injuries due to misuse of the hand tool can be identified and corrected.  There are many observation tools available that help evaluators pinpoint ergonomic-type hazards; in fact, OSHA offers several on their website OSHA.org.  The key is to put into process regular evaluation followed by coaching.  All the brilliant and careful design that goes into creating an ergonomically amazing hand tool is wasted if it is not used appropriately and as designed.         

Hand safety doesn’t have to be hard to handle.  With a great hand safety program and proper hand PPE, you’re well on your way to rooting out hazard from the workplace.  With that, let’s give our hands a hand for all their helpfulness, praiseworthiness, distinction, usefulness and overall importance.  Let’s also give our hands a hand by implementing a hand safety program that inspires employees to be safe, incorporates careful monitoring of our hand tool’s condition and fit for the job and finally monitors employee’s behaviors with those handy tools.  With that, how about a round of applause for hand safety!      

This blog was originally published in EHS Magazine. To view the publication, please click HERE!