Pump manufacturer Torishima protects Dubai workforce with Showa gloves
Torishima Pumps, of Osaka, Japan, manufactures centrifugal pumps for a wide range of applications and is the parent company for Dubai based Torishima Service Solutions.
The Dubai company provides a pump overhaul, maintenance, and emergency breakdown service for the parent company across the Middle East region.
The Torishima pumps are often used in water transmission, power plants and sewage.
Background
Torishima Service Solutions started as a small entity some five years ago with five or six staff, but now employs a workforce of 90.
The 30 glove-wearing staff wore general standard issue gloves which were often discarded at lunchtime, sometimes simply because they were dirty.
The company decided to find an alternative solution to improve hand protection and reduce hand injuries, while assessing any potential cost savings.
The Solution
Globus EMEA was brought in to assess the company’s glove requirements at their 2100 m2 site in Dubai.
Assembly staff work with 8-10m long pumps which have to be dismantled, overhauled, cleaned with solvents, and put back into operation as quickly as possible, and which may be rusty or have traces of contaminants.
In the Machine Shop, gloves are worn to protect workers’ hands while setting up machinery, operating cranes, and handling sharp components, which may be oily.
A Globus hand protection expert worked with the employees who tested potential gloves and gave feedback in order to source the most appropriate solution for the company.
By involving the workforce at an early stage, employees provide valuable insight into any problems and possible solutions and are more likely to wear and look after their gloves, rather than discarding them.
Following the glove trials and hand protection survey, two durable gloves were specified from the Showa portfolio.
The chosen gloves provide optimum protection without loss of dexterity, matched with an appropriate level of cut resistance.
Comfort and dexterity were vital to enable Torishima workers to handle small components efficiently.
Robert Walker, the workshop manager at Torishima Service Solutions, explains: ‘Health and safety is of paramount importance to us – we don’t want any injuries to hands and fingers. Workers should be able to go home at the end of a shift in the same condition as they arrive in. The hand protection solution we have chosen is designed to protect our workers’ hands from cuts and from contaminants on the machinery. After all, we should all feel safe in the jobs that we do. It’s also very useful to have Globus on hand in Dubai.”
Globus has also provided the employees with advice on how to look after their gloves, which has been useful as the workers appear to value their gloves.
They are no longer disposed of unnecessarily or carelessly cast aside, and instead workers go out of their way to put their names in them, look after, and wash them.
Conclusion
Since Torishima Service Solutions supplied durable Showa gloves, instead of regular industry standard gloves, to its Dubai workforce, there have been no cut finger incidents for over a year.
As well as better protection, the old dirty gloves used to be discarded at lunchtime, but now the Showa gloves are lasting for a number of weeks.
The gloves may initially be more expensive, but in the long run – with far fewer glove changes and the facility to wash them – the cost savings add up.
There are environmental savings too, because less waste helps to protect the planet.
By working with Globus to protect employees and save waste, Torishima has also been able to enhance its corporate social responsibility values.
