Archives

Honouring our Canadian Forces, Veterans and First Responders with Wounded Warriors

“Lest we forget”

Ahead of Remembrance Day on November 11th, it’s always important to remember and honour our veterans. It’s also equally important to honour and recognize those who presently serve both abroad and within our communities. So that’s why this year, Watson Gloves chose to partner with Wounded Warriors Canada, a national mental health charity whose mission is to honour and support Canada’s ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans, first responders and their families.

The Best Winter Gloves This 2019-2020 Season

The Best Winter Gloves This 2019-2020 Season
For almost everybody in Canada, Winter is a time you dress up in layers. Unfortunately, for your hands, it’s not really fun wearing layers of gloves – uncomfortable, loss of dexterity, and can you imagine having to put on and take off all those gloves all the time? Fortunately for you, we have gloves for every Winter purpose. So whether you’re taking a stroll in the Canadian cold or working outside and needing gloves that’s both water and impact resistant, we have the right winter glove for you – all sorted out in this guide on the best Winter gloves this 2019-2020 season.

ANSI/ISEA 138 – The New Impact-Resistant Gloves Standard and What You Need to Know

Stealth Impact TPR Flyer
Your hands are extremely important – they’re the most essential tool on the worksite but also susceptible to accidents and injuries. Safety standards and guidelines have been in place to help combat hand injuries but there has been a lack of performance-based standards and classification for impact protection in the North American market.

The New Watson Gloves Website Has Launched!

Watson New Website Launch
Did you know this year, we’re launching over 60 new gloves into the market? That’s definitely one way to celebrate our 101st year in business! And you can bet, we’re not slowing down any further! With new releases and a growing catalogue of products, we want to ensure a better customer experience whether it’s in-store or online. And we’ve changed up our online game in a BIG way!

Garden Gloves: More Than Just a Fashion Accessory

Gardeners are starting to feel it in the air. Spring is coming, and with it, a brand new gardening season. When you walk into your local garden centre in the next month, your eyes will surely be caught by the “Glove Rack.” On it you’ll see this season’s new fabrics, patterns and colours. While you’ll want to pick a pair that looks oh-so-fab, you should also consider their purpose. We wear gloves to garden in so our hands stay clean, but they are also extremely important for protection.

Work Armour: ProTech Rebranded

This past year Watson Gloves rebranded our line of performance gloves. What was ProTech is now Work Armour. You’ve seen performance gloves out in the world, not the sloppy work glove of old but new form fitting gloves. Made with bright color trim and extras such as gel padding in the palm or heavy duty rubber protective patches on the fingers or knuckles to protect your hands against hard impact or abrasion injuries. Under this brand are both winter lined and unlined styles of gloves, made with fit and protection in mind. Like all Watson Gloves the Work Armour styles all have their own names such as Extreme, Daytona, Wingman, Drill Sergeant and the made in Canada best seller Storm Trooper, to name a few.

Our Work Armour performance gloves are made to fit “like a glove” and  to achieve this we added spandex to a number to styles. When a glove is made with multiple materials (leather, neoprene, spandex, mesh, microfibre, etc) the designer has more flexibility to do what’s needed to make it the best. Design is done with an end goal in mind. What sport or occupation are the gloves to be worn for? What are the sport or job hazards? What potential injuries could occur? Where are the critical wear areas? Once we answer these questions our design team can begin. Often the process is begun because of need expressed by one of our customers. Our job is to listen.

We then get sample(s) made and have the customer try them out. There is no substitute for actual wear & tear on the job. We want our customer to wear a pair at work or wear them while doing the sport they are designed for. Only then will we know what to improve. What is the glove lacking? What areas could we improve upon? What could WE do better to make this a glove you want to wear? Let us know, we want to hear what you have to say!

The Work Armour series of gloves is the result of years of development and we’re proud to offer them to you. Try a pair on! Your hands will thank you.

Frostbite – A Cold Weather Hazard

We’re now deep into the harsh winter months and in some parts of Canada, its frickin’ cold. One of the health hazards of cold weather is frost bite and the fingers and hands are extremely susceptible to it. This is because blood vessels farthest from the heart constrict in cold weather to conserve blood for major organs. Less oxygen reaches the fingers, so cells in the tissue death begin to die. This can lead to gangrene. Nasty stuff!

What’s the number one way to prevent frostbite? WEAR GLOVES! Or, better yet, wear mittens. Watson Gloves created a couple of mittens designed for extremely cold conditions. The #9302 and #9303 are part of our Expedition North series. Both mitts are treated with water-resistant Water-Off. Made right in our very own Burnaby factory, this series contains various mittens in two different styles: a traditional mitt or 1 finger style (index finger is on its own for dexterity and the other 3 fingers are together). As stated above, mitt style gloves keep your fingers together and therefore warmer. Whether you’re going to be in just cold, or cold and wet conditions, protect yourself with Expedition North gloves.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/75838-finger-frostbite-signs/#ixzz2Jfpnyalm

Hand Injuries on the Job

It’s a fact that’s hard to believe but there are 500,000 hand injuries in Canada every year*. Our hands are extremely vulnerable to injury because we constantly use them to hold, twist, turn, lift, grasp, push, pull, manipulate and touch. Hand injuries account for almost 1/3 of work place injuries. It’s in your best interests to protect yourself and your employees from hand injuries because the loss of productivity and employee down time is hard on the bottom line.

At Watson Gloves, it’s our job to help you protect your hands. You can do that by wearing gloves. They can’t be just any gloves though. There are a number of factors to take into consideration and that’s where we, the Glove Experts, can help you choose the right style and size.

Things to Consider:

Size – if they’re too big and sloppy they could actually do more harm than good. For example, they could get caught in machinery. If they’re too small you won’t have the dexterity that is needed to perform tasks that require small motor control.

Heat & Cold – do you need to protect yourself from the elements? If you’re working outside in -30 degrees you will need gloves to keep your hands warm. Conversely, if you’re working around hot ovens you need to protect your hands from burns.

Cut Protection – are you working in a job where there is a danger of getting cut or punctured? If so, you need gloves with cut protection. There are different levels and they are graded and tested by professionals so you can be sure you are getting the cut protection you need.

Chemical Hazards – if you’re working with or around inks, dyes, cleaners, plant and animal oils, degreasers or chemicals then you are susceptible to these chemical leeching into your skin or even burning you. With gloves you can avoid these injuries but you’ve got to make sure you have the right gloves, made from materials that will protect you from chemical hazards.  We have chemical charts that we use to make sure you’re getting the right gloves.

Abrasions –  Cuts and scrapes are painful and often unnecessary. If you’re wearing gloves then your skin can be protected from most of these.

Long Term Stress & Fatigue Injuries – a repetitive job can often mean long term damage due to performing the same action again and again. Gloves with extra padding and support in the right areas can help you avoid these types of injuries.

Let us help you protect yourself and your employees. We can help you pick out the right glove so you and your employees don’t become one of those 500,000 hand injury statistics.

*Statistics taken from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/