Human error and unknown electrical hazards can be risky. The Glove Company’s PVAD Tech Glove acts as a critical secondary failsafe.
For founder Grant Staples, the idea for The Glove Company began with a jolt.
As a young apprentice on an unfamiliar jobsite, Staples suffered a severe electric shock on a narrow landing. The charge tore through him, throwing his body to the ground, and that incident became his motivation.
“Since then, I’ve always been interested in safety,” Staples told Safe to Work.
Drawing on his engineering education, Staples developed a groundbreaking wearable technology to help minimise the risk of electrical shocks. His work addresses a critical need, as the number of workplace incidents remains high.
Most trades, when working near electricity, rely on others to ensure the site is dead, but too often it’s not the case. On job sites, electric shocks can come from a variety of unexpected sources, such as a piece of wood that would not typically prompt an on-site worker to check with an electric pen or voltage tester.
“I knew we could figure out a way to explore a new aspect of safety that wasn’t covered,” Staples said. “We could also help electricians and other trades that aren’t really trained in electricity.”
To combat the statistics, Staples focused The Glove Company on developing a true fail-safe: the Personal Voltage Alert Device (PVAD).
The wearable technology detects electrical hazards and alerts the wearer to hidden dangers in their vicinity without requiring them to touch the circuit. In recent trials, 20 per cent of participants reported that PVAD tech gloves prevented an electrical injury.
The power of the PVAD
These wearables operate as hands-free, continuous safety monitors that detect the invisible energy field generated by live electricity. Unlike traditional tools that require a user to actively test a surface, the PVAD is always on, providing a crucial secondary failsafe against hidden electrical hazards.
The technology’s core function is its ability to sense the radio frequency (RF) emitted by an active alternating current (AC) electrical circuit without direct contact. The system is powered by a replaceable coin battery, which lasts between six and 12 months, depending on use.
As Staples said, the glove “picks up on the radio frequency in AC electrical current”. This is achieved through small RF capacitors embedded in each of a glove’s fingertips. When these sensors come near a live voltage source, effective within a range of 110–440V AC, they detect the RF signal.
Once a signal is detected, the information is sent to a small processor housed in the glove’s cuff, which instantly triggers a dual alert system.
“It gets a beep and a red light so you can see. If you can’t see, you can hear,” Staples said.
In safe hands
One of The Glove Company’s sceptics took part in a trial working on a 1960s lift. Although his team had isolated every circuit they knew of, he initially refused to wear the “weird-looking” glove because he didn’t believe in it.
It turned out the old lift had a separate, hidden circuit that was still live. The glove saved him by sounding an alert just as he was about to cut that live wire, an example of the glove protecting workers from unknown electrical hazards they wouldn’t even think to check for.
“Traditional tools rely on the user actively needing to check an area, but if you don’t think you need to check, you won’t,” Staples said.
The Glove Company has also conducted trials in the mining industry where the focus is on a “solid, well-created product”.
As a result, feedback from trials in other industries has been invaluable. These tests have helped refine the physical glove itself, focusing on user comfort and durability rather than the core technology. The gloves also received an EN 388, which is the European standard for cut resistance.
“The main feedback we found wasn’t so much about the tech, it was more about the glove as a glove,” Staples said. “They’re after something a bit more durable.”
The Glove Company is also in it for the long haul. Decades after a surge of electricity left Staples stunned, the technology he developed is helping to ensure other tradespeople don’t suffer the same fate.
By eliminating the guesswork associated with identifying hidden electrical threats, gloves like the PVAD Tech Glove serve as a true secondary failsafe when human error or unknown factors are present.
This feature appeared in the November-December edition of Safe to Work.