Be careful with gloves. Many pros won't use them with winch cables. Many pros have lost fingers because of them. Mostly complacency. If you use gloves, use very form fitting nice mechanics gloves. Not the BS farmer dell winch kit gloves.
I avoid contact with the cable. Use the hook.
Good to know. I had not heard of that problem. Using steel cable, ....for me.....everyone said......GLOVES......make sure you use GLOVES. Having the size winch that I do, steel cable is all I can use, as synthetic would limit how many feet you could practically use, being a thicker diameter. A winch with a very short line, would in most cases severely limit it's use in the real world. There is also a reason for safety considerations, by using a closed loop system, like the FACTOR 55 hook ors thimble. They offer bigger units able to manage a 17,000 lb winch unlike the SMITTYBILT, which is good for light and medium duty units.
The less contact with a cable, your absolutely right. Using only the hook is better. A good safety tip to all that read this. Ronnie Dahls winch video, should scare the hell out of users, and he was doing CONTROLLED demolition demonstrations on the dangers and physics involved. A REAL EYE OPENER!