LOS ANGELES, April 19, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ironclad Performance Wear Corporation (OTCBB:ICPW), a leader in high-performance task-specific gloves and apparel, today announced that Eric Jaeger, the Company's vice president of research and development, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) for exceptional performance in enhancing worker hand safety through the development of Ironclad's KONG™ line of gloves for the oil & gas industry.
The Offshore Leadership Award, presented annually since 1983 by the U.S. Department of the Interior, recognizes "outstanding individuals whose exceptional performance has raised the bar for safety achievement, improved environmental protection, enhanced resource recovery and conservation, or inspired innovation and outstanding performance by others." Joining Eric Jaeger in receiving this award is Clark Orr, vice president of Orr Safety, who, along with Eric, shepherded the KONG glove through concept development, field testing and deployment with members of the oil & gas industry safety committee.
"The leading injuries on oil or gas platforms are hand injuries," said Eric Jaeger, Ironclad's vice president of research and development. "Hands are cut, smashed, pinched or bruised due to the extreme conditions which workers must endure. As a result, hand protection, along with grip enhancement, durability and dexterity, are the focus of every energy company's corporate safety program. With over a year's worth of pre-production development, combined with 80,000 hours of real-world field testing with no reported injuries, we believe that the KONG line of gloves are the best task-specific safety work gloves for workers in the oil and gas extraction industry. As of January 2010, more than 300,000 pairs of KONG gloves have been put to use."
The KONG line of gloves has been proven to significantly reduce the incidences of hand injury, combining back-of-the-hand, knuckle, finger, thumb, wrist and sleeve protection; improved grip; exceptional durability; and well-balanced flexibility and dexterity to meet the exacting needs of workers on extraction platforms.
The Offshore Leadership Award will be presented at the MMS SAFE Awards Luncheon being held at the Offshore Technology Conference on May 6, 2010 in Houston, Texas.
About Ironclad Performance Wear Corporation
Ironclad, which created the performance work glove category in 1998, continues to leverage its leadership position in the construction and industrial markets through the development and introduction of specialized task-specific gloves for industries, such as oil & gas exploration and automotive. With its focus on innovation, design, advanced material science and durability, Ironclad engineers, manufactures and sells a comprehensive line of task-specific gloves and performance-fabric apparel. Ironclad's products are available at hardware stores, home centers, industrial suppliers, lumber yards, and sporting goods retailers nationwide; and through authorized distributors throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
For more information on Ironclad, please visit www.ironclad.com.
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