Research & Development
The Next Generation of Impact Protection
The most advanced HexArmor® impact resistance comes with all the dexterity, all the comfort, and more protection than offered by any other impact-protective glove on the market. Our proprietary IR-X® technology shields our gloves with a full back-of-hand Impact Exoskeleton™, so every joint and knuckle is protected from debilitating blows.
In addition to being 42% taller than competitive impact guards, IR-X® smash guards are purpose-built to deflect the force of sudden impacts away from the impact point, rather than transferring force directly to the hand. This unique characteristic is what sets IR-X® safety levels higher than the competition, and its flexibility is what makes the IR-X® Impact Exoskeleton™ more comfortable and more dexterous than any other impact-resistant technology available.
ASTM D2632-01 Resilience by Vertical Rebound in Testing
Resiliency of a material can be described as its ability to absorb and release energy elastically, rather than simply transferring energy directly through the material. The lower the tested resiliency value, the more energy is transferred through the material and into the hand during an impact blow.
The test results show that IR-X® products possess a significantly higher resiliency value than the nearest competitor, at 33% resiliency. The lowest competitor offered less than half the resiliency value of the IR-X® products.
About the test: The ASTM D2632 “covers the determination of impact resilience of solid rubber from measurement of the vertical rebound of a dropped mass.” Testing was modified so that a complete material composition was tested on each sample (ie: TPR + foam + lining). The results are given in a resilience value which is “determined as a ratio of rebound height to drop height of a metal plunger of prescribed mass and shape which is allowed to fall on a rubber specimen.” The ASTM method measures the amount of energy that is transferred through impact.
Oil Field Smash Injury Reduction
Designing high performance hand protection with global petro-chemical companies
For global petro-chemical service companies like ExxonMobil and Halliburton contractor employee hand injuries represented a disproportionate source of costly worker downtime and insurance claims. ExxonMobil initiated an in-depth study of hand-injuries and established safety glove guidelines and standards in 2008. Initial studies identified smash injuries as the leading cause of on-the-job hand injuries. Industry partner and contractor Halliburton, collaborating with ExxonMobil’s efforts, refined hand-injury research and discovered that while smash and pinch injuries were significant in oil field work (approximately 45% of all hand injuries), cut and puncture wounds also represented a higher than expected percentage of hand injuries (nearly 50% of all hand injuries) than initially thought.
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS AND SETTING INDUSTRY STANDARDS
With ExxonMobil establishing industry safety standards for protective oil and gas field gloves, and Halliburton fully engaged in the hazard discovery process, the next logical step was to find a glove on the market capable of meeting the new industry standards, or locate a technical glove designer and manufacturer capable of engineering a safety glove capable of reducing or eliminating debilitating hand-injuries associated with the oil and gas drilling, transportation, construction and refining processes.
Research conducted by ExxonMobil and Halliburton, of safety gloves available on the market, revealed that most construction gloves offered little protection against cut, puncture, smash and pinch injuries. Some of the glove manufacturers contacted resisted modification of glove designs to meet the new industry standards due to lack of design and engineering assets or resistance to the costs involved in retooling production lines.
One company, however, welcomed the challenge of designing and engineering a technical glove to meet the demands of tough oil and gas field applications: HexArmor®.
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HexArmor® wants to get your team in our gloves. Our unique purpose-built gloves offer varying configurations of cut, industrial puncture, impact and/or needlestick protection. Please let us know how we can reach you and we will have a Solution Specialist contact you to discuss any questions you may have. We look forward to helping you stay safe.
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HexArmor Manufactures Purpose-Built PPE, Specifically Modeled for Mining Hazards