Chemical safety gloves must meet the requirements of European standard EN ISO 374-1. This standard has undergone fundamental changes in terms of certification.

Part 1 (Terminology and performance requirements for chemical risks) contains important modifications:

• Expansion of test chemicals from 12 to 18
• Omission of beaker glass for “water-resistant safety glove with low protection against chemical risks”
• Standardisation of types of gloves into type A, B or C
• Modification to labelling on the product: Pictogram of Erlenmeyer flask with differing number of letters for test chemicals depending on type

New labelling of safety glove:

Expansion of test chemicals: The test catalogue has been expanded in accordance with the new standard.

As before, the application guidance of the manufacturer is of great importance. The specific protection requirement must be determined as part of a risk assessment of the actual works process taking account of the specific application conditions. A designated safety professional must define the individual requirements and secure conformation of the specific protection levels of the safety gloves from the manufacturer’s data sheets. With the uvex Chemical Expert System, uvex provides a multilingual, online platform to search for individual permeation times. In addition, experienced staff are available on-site and in the centre of expertise for safety gloves in Lüneburg to provide advice on all questions relating to safety gloves for protection against chemical risks.

The European standard DIN EN 388:2003 describes the requirements, test methods and labelling of safety gloves against mechanical risks when carrying out work. The test methods laid down can also be applied to arm protectors (in other words, on parts of protective clothing that are not firmly connected to glove or protective clothing).

In the same way as the test results, the safety gloves are classified with a performance level in relation to each of the individual mechanical hazards. The relevant values (number from 0 to 5, with 4/5 being the best) can be seen next to the pictogram of the glove.

The mechanical risks and stresses and/or their test methods are defined in DIN EN 388:2003 as follows:

• Resistance to abrasion:
  To test the safety glove's resistance to abrasion, the material is treated with sandpaper under pressure. The number of cycles needed to abrade a hole in the material serves as a benchmark.
  (Highest performance level 4 = 8,000 cycles)
• Blade cut resistance:
  To check the blade cut resistance of a safety glove, a rotating circular blade is used, which cuts through the glove at a constant speed. Comparison with a reference material serves as a benchmark and a resulting index.
  (Highest performance level 5 = index 20)
• Tear resistance:
  To check tear resistance, the material of the safety glove is firstly slit. The force needed to tear the material serves as a benchmark.
  (Highest performance level 4 = 75 Newtons)
• Puncture resistance:
  To test the puncture resistance, the glove is punctured with a nail (established dimension). The force used serves as a benchmark.
  (Highest performance level 4 = 150 Newtons)

Protection classes for cut protection gloves were previously assigned in Europe in accordance with standard DIN EN 388:2003. Due to the continuous development of technical materials – so-called ‘high-performance fibres’ – it has become necessary to adjust the methods used to test and classify these products. These changes have been implemented in standard DIN EN 388:2016.

Test procedure in accordance with EN 388:2016/ISO 13997

• Relates to cut protection gloves made from materials that cause the blades to become blunt (i.e. glass and steel fibres).
• Additional test procedure in accordance with ISO 13997: Determination of resistance of the glove to cutting by a sharp object through single contact under higher force
• Here, a long, straight blade is drawn once over the test piece. The minimum force required to cut through the test piece after 20 millimetres is determined in the process.
• The result is given in newtons (N) and assigned to a cut protection class.

The European standard DIN EN 407 regulates the requirements for safety gloves that provide protection against thermal risks in applications involving heat. Safety gloves certified according to this standard protect the wearer against contact heat, radiant heat and small splashes of molten metal, for example.

However, this does not apply to the specific use of safety gloves in firefighting. According to DIN EN 407, heat protection gloves must have the following features:

• low flammability and low flame propagation
• low heat transmission (protection against radiant, convective and contact heat)
• high temperature resistance
  

Important changes to standards!

In the latest version of DIN EN 407: As of 2020, the first performance class is no longer named “resistance to flammability”, but is now called “limited flame spread”. If the glove has not been tested for this, a new pictogram is used (see above right). However, there are no changes to the performance classes.

The test described in DIN EN 407 assigns safety gloves a performance class in relation to each of the individual thermal hazards. It is important that the glove does not come into contact with open flames if it does not meet the criteria of performance class 3 in the limited flame spread test.

Minimum requirements for safety gloves in relation to protection from cold are regulated in standard DIN EN 511. The gloves certified under this standard are intended to protect the wearer from convective cold (penetrating cold) and contact cold (direct contact).

As with protection from thermal and mechanical risks, the safety glove is classified into different performance levels for individual aspects. The performance levels are indicated with a number from 1 to 4 next to the pictogram, where 4 is the highest level.

Determination of performance levels for safety gloves against cold:

• Convective cold:
  Measuring the quantity of energy needed to maintain the temperature of a heated hand model (30 to 35 °C) with a safety glove in relation to a constant room temperature. (Calculation of the thermal insulation properties based on the temperature of the hand model, room temperature and energy required to maintain the temperature.)
• Contact cold (Test in accordance with ISO 5085):
  Determination of thermal resistance of the safety gloves with a cold and a hot plate. The glove material is placed as an insulator between both plates and the change in the temperature gradient acts as a measurand (comparison with normative reference).

The glove can also be tested for water permeability in accordance with EN ISO 15383. If no water permeates into the glove over a 30-minute period, this test is deemed as passed (no specific performance levels).

For workplaces with a risk of fire and explosion, there is now a European standard, DIN EN 16350:2014, which defines the test conditions and minimum requirements for the electrostatic properties of safety gloves:

• The contact resistance must be less than 1.0 × 108 ohms (Rv< 1.0 × 108 Ω).
• Test atmosphere: air temperature of 23 ± 1 °C, relative humidity 25 ± 5 %.

Important! Safety gloves with antistatic characteristics are only effective if the resistance between the wearer and the earth is less than 108 ohms. Our products are tested in accordance with DIN EN 16350:2014 and are suitable for both product and work protection. What should the user look out for?
The old classification in accordance with DIN EN 1149-1:2006 is no longer permitted. The tested surface resistance only gives the charge transfer to the surface of the material and is not sufficient to guarantee effective protection. What can gloves tested in accordance with DIN EN 16350:2014 be used for?
Safety gloves that have been successfully tested in accordance with DIN EN 16350:2014 can be used in workplaces with a risk of fire and explosion (e.g. refineries) and form an essential part in the earthing chain (glove – protective clothing – shoes – ground). In connection with electrostatic properties, the electrostatic discharge ("electrostatic discharge", or "ESD") is frequently considered in the area of product protection. Safety gloves tested in accordance with DIN EN 16350:2014 can be used for all applications of ESD product protection.