Updates to Protective Equipment: New Choices on the CDOT-Approved Glove MatRIX
By Quentin Boose, Process Improvement & Change Management Intern
December 12, 2018
The current CDOT-approved Glove Matrix
Safety at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is paramount, especially for our staff who work in the field to build and maintain our transportation system. Before 2016, maintenance employees had the choice of just two glove options for their work. In 2016, CDOT’s Statewide Safety Manager and personal protective equipment (PPE) aficionado, Steve Gasowski, formed the CDOT Approved Glove Decision Matrix. This table shows over 10 different gloves and lists different characteristics of each allowing maintenance staff to choose the right glove for the job. The Glove Matrix “allows employees to better educate themselves and know that the leather glove they’re using is good for some things, but not everything, like piercing or cold weather,” Gasowski explained.
A former firefighter, Gasowski knows the importance of PPE. After researching and listening to the frontline maintenance staff, Gasowski found that employees were forced to find or borrow specialty PPE for certain tasks out in the field. Gasowski began implementing the Glove Matrix program in 20106 to improve employees’ safety. “Initially, was difficult for employees to accept the change in the field,” he explains. “They originally thought the motive [for the Glove Matrix] was to get them in trouble.” Now, however, the Glove Decision Matrix is successful. “We’ve seen a reduction in hand injuries and we’re continuing to change the safety culture.”
In a continuous process improvement effort, the Glove Matrix is soon to be updated. The matrix is available on the CDOT intranet here and on the Excellence in Safety website.
**due to the age of this article, some links have deleted as they no longer bring the reader to a functional website**
Pictured above: Gasowski with a pair of CDOT-approved gloves