Research at the School of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Osaka, Japan, confirms what ergonomists have observed for many years. The researchers found that subjects wearing thicker gloves, used more force to pick up an object.
For instance, subjects picking up a wine glass while wearing cotton gloves might apply two or three times more pressure than subjects wearing thin rubber gloves. Subjects wearing rubber gloves use more pressure than those without gloves.
The researchers theorize that the reason more force was applied by subjects wearing gloves is that the glove reduces the amount of tactile feedback the worker gets through the finger. In other words, workers are not able to accurately
This article originally appeared in The Ergonomics Report™ on 2002-06-01.