Hand injuries -Do not lose your most useful tool

Our hands are the most useful appendages and their versatility allows us to manipulate the environment to our benefit. We use them in almost all daily tasks. It therefore makes sense that we take good care of our hands and avoid exposing them to unnecessary damage.

Dr Vernon Wessels from ER24 said, “Within the work environment, hand injuries are probably the most common injury found.

They can vary from a simple paper cut to traumatic amputation. Often, the injury could have been prevented had simple rules been complied with.”

He provided the following tips:

1. Although the hand is a versatile tool, do not use it in place of a tool designed for a specific purpose.

2. When using knives or potentially sharp instruments like screwdrivers, be alert to where this instrument could go if it slips. Avoid cutting towards your hands (or any other body part for that matter). Avoid handling the blade edge with unprotected fingers.

3. Do not stick your hand into an area if you cannot determine whether there are possible dangers awaiting you. Dangers could include injury due to sharp objects, animal bites, insect stings or very hot or very cold items.

4. Use heat-insulating gloves to protect your hands when handling potentially hot items, especially during welding and cooking.

5. Wear the relevant work gloves during manual tasks to protect your hands against chafing, abrasions and minor cuts.

6. Keep hands clear of the danger area around fast-moving machinery, especially drive-belts and moving blades.

7. Keep hands as clean as reasonably possible. This will prevent slippages and assist in limiting contamination and the risk of infection in the event of accidental injury.

8. Keep your nails short and neatly trimmed if you do a lot of manual work as this limits the risk of your nails being pulled off your hands.

9. Treat any cuts or puncture wounds immediately and seek medical assistance if these wounds are deeper than just the superficial skin layer (in other words, if they are gaping wounds or deep penetrations). Underlying tendons can be partially damaged or completely severed, which can lead to loss of function and may require surgical repair. Infection of the hand is a serious condition that can lead to permanent disability. Even a small wound or insect bite can lead to a devastating infection. Any swelling, redness or warmer skin in the area of a wound or insect bite must be seen to by a healthcare worker in order to identify and treat infection early.

10. Nail and nail-fold infections due to regular exposure to water (especially warm, dirty water) are common. These infections are caused by a fungus and may require a long course (several months) of treatment to cure. It’s preferable to wear waterproof gloves in these situations to prevent an infection developing.

Emergency services and other healthcare workers wear examination gloves to protect themselves from possible infectious agents and also to protect their patients from unnecessary contamination that may be present on the healthcare worker’s hands (especially when managing wounds).

“Therefore, patients should never feel offended if the healthcare worker puts on his/ her gloves before treating them. It is ultimately in everybody’s interest to protect and be protected,” said Dr Wessels.

Rescue gloves should be used to protect against broken glass and other sharp items, to handle tools during rescue situations as well as to protect against chafing in rope rescue situations.

“Look after your hands and they will last you a lifetime,” said Dr Wessels.

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

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