The Importance of Grip for Smarter, Safer Work

Bi-polymer glove coatings improve grip, durability and dexterity, reducing risk and enhancing performance in demanding work environments.

• By Ben Julian
• Apr 20, 2026

In manufacturing and construction, hands are the most valuable tools on the job. Yet for decades, glove coatings have forced workers into tough trade-offs. Polyurethane, nitrile, and latex each bring strengths, abrasion resistance, grip, tactility, oil repellence, but none deliver the perfect balance of all.

As a result, workers are often forced to choose one benefit at the expense of another, sacrificing dexterity, durability, or comfort. On fast-moving production floors, those trade-offs cost more than convenience, they impact safety, productivity, and overall cost of use.

The Limitations of Traditional Coatings

Each traditional coating serves a purpose, but each also introduces compromise:

• Polyurethane (PU): The precision player. Excellent tactility and abrasion resistance for small-part handling, but grip drops off in oily conditions, increasing slip risk.
• Nitrile: The versatile workhorse. Strong durability and oil resistance with solid longevity but can sacrifice some tactile feel and flexibility.
• Latex: Naturally elastic with dependable wet grip, but ongoing concerns around allergies and skin irritation limit its use.

While these are only a few traditional options available, no matter the choice, the pattern is the same: improving one performance area often weakens another.

The Turning Point

Today’s jobs don’t allow for compromise. Production lines are faster, environments are harsher, and tasks demand both precision and protection. Gloves must now deliver durability and dexterity, grip and comfort, at the same time.

That’s where bi-polymer coatings are changing the game.

By combining complementary polymer properties, these advanced coatings are designed to bridge long-standing performance gaps. Instead of forcing a trade-off, they integrate the strengths of traditional materials, delivering grip, durability, oil resistance, and flexibility in a single solution. For the first time, workers don’t have to choose between performance and protection.

How Important is Grip Performance?

Among all glove coating features, grip is often the first thing workers notice, and for good reason. Better grip reduces the amount of force needed to handle materials, which directly impacts fatigue and efficiency over the course of a workday.

But grip isn’t just about comfort, it’s a critical safety factor.

When grip is compromised, the body compensates. Workers instinctively squeeze harder to maintain control, especially when handling sharp materials like sheet metal. That increased grip force drives the material deeper into the glove surface, concentrating pressure at a single point.

The result? A higher likelihood of cut-through, even if the glove has a high cut resistance rating on paper.

Considering the ongoing trend of companies defaulting to higher (or in many cases the highest,) cut scores, this grip concept is a similar principle to ANSI/ISEA 105 TDM testing. As gram weight increases, the cut resistant material must withstand more pressure to prevent a cut. In real-world applications, poor grip effectively increases that force, working against the glove’s protective capabilities.

How Can Grip Performance Be Tested?

Unlike cut, abrasion, and puncture resistance, grip performance is not currently required to test under the North American ANSI/ISEA 105 standard. That makes it harder to evaluate, but not impossible.

Leading manufacturers are turning to advanced testing methods like the SATRA grip test and the James Limited Slip test to quantify performance. These tests measure how much force is required to maintain control of an object across dry, wet, and oily conditions.

The value of this data goes beyond identifying “better grip.” It shows how much less effort a worker needs to safely handle materials. Less force means reduced strain, better control, and in many cases, lower risk of slips and cuts.

Make Grip Your First Line of Defense

Grip should not be treated as a secondary feature, it is often the first line of defense.

Before defaulting to the highest cut level available, safety professionals should ask a more important question:Is the glove helping the worker control the hazard, or forcing them to fight it?

In many applications, improving grip performance can deliver a greater real-world safety impact than simply increasing cut resistance. When workers can securely handle materials with less effort, they reduce risk at the source, before a cut ever has the chance to occur.