Kozane® High-Performance Fabrics for PPE in the Automotive Industry
The automotive industry spans across a wide range of sectors, from component sourcing to parts production and assembly, and each of these has its own distinct set of challenges.
Automotive workers are exposed to abundant hazardous elements from dangerous machinery, equipment, and harmful chemicals to handling sharp or abrasive materials. These workers are exposed to various hazards every day and face constant manual handling, covering a broad spectrum of activities and encompassing many repetitive or strenuous tasks.
In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified that workers in automotive manufacturing experience much higher rates of injury and illness than workers in other industries. Having this in mind, it is important to understand and identify the common hazards that workers in this industry face and ensure the maximum level of safety.
CUT HAZARDS
Automotive workers handle glass, dangerous machinery, and other sharp objects and edges where cuts, punctures and lacerations are likely to happen while performing their daily tasks. Around 30% of workplace injuries every year in this sector are from cuts and lacerations, and around 12% of those are occurring on the arms down to the hands. These types of injuries can range from simple cuts to life-altering damage that can be costly for both a company and its employees.
Over the years, vehicles have become more complex, involving more parts, advanced features, and electrical components compared to before. In Europe, buying electric vehicles has become popular over the years, contributing more to the rapid growth of the market. The increase in production leads to an increased need for protection from not only electric shocks, but to arc flash and other heat-related injuries that workers in the automotive industry are facing.
KOZANE FOR CUT-RESISTANT PPE
Kozane® High-Performance Fabrics offer cut, tear and abrasion resistance and can be used to create personal protective equipment (PPE) applications from cuffs and sleeves to full body overalls providing not only maximum protection but comfort and breathability as well.
Be it workers handling packaging and assembling parts or moving and installing components on the production line, or handling metal sheets, our Kozane® fabrics are a suitable choice for unparalleled protection in the workplace.
Kozane® Supreme combines maximum protection with wearability. It has an unprecedented ANSI A9 rating, the highest possible cut resistance level according to the American Standard. It is soft and breathable while offering the highest cut, puncture, abrasion and tear resistance, making it suitable for manufacturing various types of PPE across the different sectors of automotive manufacturing such as arm guards, cut-and-puncture-resistant trousers, long-sleeves, aprons and chaps.
Our High-Performance Fabrics offer not only the maximum protection against abrasion, tear, cut, and puncture but also breathability, comfort and flexibility, making it a suitable choice for various personal protective equipment applications in the automotive industry where manual labour, repetitive tasks and dangerous environment expose workers to multiple hazards.
If you want to know more about our Kozane® High-Performance Fabrics and how you can use them for various applications to address the needs of the automotive manufacturing industry, please get in touch with our dedicated representative Eve Lamb at +44 (0)7599 546 566 or by email at eve.lamb@granberg.no.
