Linda

Your posting raises a whole raft of questions and points. However, for a start:

In my opinion there is no such thing as a ‘barrier cream’ (with the exception of UV protection). The BOHRF study concluded that their use should not be encouraged. The HSE also do not now encourage their use. Using any cream underneath occlusive gloves is not a good idea. This is why we do not encourage the use of moisturisers if gloves are then to be donned within a very short time. All these creams will contain a preservative. For preservative read biocide, intended to prevent bacterial spoilage of the product. All are irritants and almost all sensitisers. We see occasional problems of contact allergy on unoccluded skin. In the micro-environment inside a glove and accompanying hyperhydration, the potential for sensitisation and allergy will be much greater.

I would not encourage the use of baby powder to dry their hands, particularly if they are then going to don latex gloves. There are reasons for this that are somewhat too complex to attempt to explain in a posting on this forum, but powder and latex gloves do not go well together! Hand drying should be done with a good quality, absorbent paper towel, using a patting motion, not a scrubbing one!

One of the major problems with gloves is the incorrect method of removal . I have details of a study showing how almost one third of mortuary workers contaminated their hands with micro-organisms on the outside of their gloves when they were removed. This is a very common problem. It is not unusual, when we do glove training in pharmaceutical companies to find that, even after being shown how to remove gloves properly, over 50% still contaminate their hands.

I am also surprised at their wearing 3 pairs of gloves. I can understand 2, and this is not uncommon, but 3 strikes me as overkill. Incidentally, if they are wearing the gloves purely as protection against bacterial hazards, then latex is the optimum. However, mortuary workers sometimes are exposed to formaldehyde, in which case permeation breakthrough with latex can occur within a short period and nitrile – but category III – should be used.

If you need more contact me off the forum.

Chris

Chris Packham

FRSPH, FInstSMM, MCMI, MIIRSM, MBICSc

EnviroDerm Services

Unit 10, Building 11, The Mews, Mitcheldean, GL17 0SN

Tel: +44 1386 832 311 (office), Mobile: +44 7818 035 898