Glove Standards

Gloves - All about Standards

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• What are the Australian/ New Zealand occupational protective glove standards?
  The AS/NZS 2161:2005 is the overall standard for Australian occupational protection gloves. These standards have been adopted in Australia and New Zealand as AS/NZ 2161:2005. They are exactly the same as the European standards EN407, EN420, EN374, EN388 and EN511.
• Do ProChoice gloves meet European Standards too?

  ProChoice has developed its glove range to meet industry requirements and standards. Most of the gloves we sell comply with European Standards.

  Where applicable, each of ProChoice’s gloves is assessed across a range of criteria for their specified usage for each standard.
  Each glove is given a performance rating for a number of factors against the specified usage. The usage is denoted by a pictogram. The individual glove’s performance rating is shown under the pictogram with a series of numbers or ratings.

  Where applicable, gloves suitable for use within the food industry conform to HACCP food safety accreditation program and gloves suitable for medical examination are Therapeutic Goods Act (TGA) listed.

• What are the common categories of glove standards?

  EN 420	EN420 - General Reqirements
  EN 12477	EN12477 - Gloves for Welders
  EN 511	EN511 - Protection from Cold
  EN 388	EN388- Mechanical Risks Resistance to abrasion Blade cut resistance Tear resistance Puncture resistance
  EN 374	EN374 - Chemical Risks Resistance to chemical hazards; the measurement of time for a chemical to permeate through the glove material
  EN 407	EN407 - Thermal Risks Heat and Fire  Resistance to flammability Resistance to contact heat Resistance to convective heat Resistance to radiant heat Resistance to small/large splashes of molten metal

• EN420 - General Occupational Protective Standards

  To achieve a standard, gloves must meet minimum performance levels for the following:

  • Clear manufacturer identification, product and size marking 
  • Innocuousness (e.g.: pH of the materials is neutral) and will not harm the health of the user 
  • Respect of agreed sizes (see the following size measurements table)

  Glove Size	6	7	8	9	10	11
  Min. Length (mm)	220	230	240	250	260	270

  • Dexterity: it is advisable that a glove allows as much dexterity as possible according to the intended use

  Performance Level	1	2	3	4	5
  Diameter of Dexterity pin (mm)	11.0	9.5	8.0	6.5	5.0

  • Glove composition - any seams present in the construction of the glove do not result in a significant decrease in product performance
  • Packing, storage, maintenance and cleaning
  • Information to the user on instruction for use whatever the PPE category: performances, pictograms, uses, use precautions, available size range
• EN12477 - Welding Glove Standards
  This Standard specifies the requirements and test methods for gloves used for manual welding of metals, cutting and related techniques. The welder’s gloves are classified into two categories.

  Type A indicates gloves that must provide a slightly higher degree of protection against heat.

  Type B indicates gloves that must provide a slightly lower degree of protection against heat, but which have higher flexibility and versatility.

   

• EN374-3 - Chemical Risk Standards

  The standard specifies the determination of the resistance of protective glove materials to permeation by potentially hazardous non-gaseous chemical under constant contact.

  The glove must have a breakthrough time of at least 30 minutes or performance level 2 on the table below when tested against 3 chemicals from a list of 12 standard defined chemicals as listed in the table below. These 12 chemicals are specially selected as being those most commonly used in industry. The chemicals tested against are designated by an identifying letter from A to L.

  Performance Level	1	2	3	4	5	6
  Breakthrough Time (minutes)	>10	>30	>60	>120	>240	>480

   

  Code Letter	Chemical	Case Number	Class
  A	Methanol	67-56-1	Primary alcohol
  B	Acetone	67-64-1	Ketone
  C	Acetonitrile	75-05-8	Nitrile compound
  D	Dichloromethane	75-09-2	Chlorinated paraffin
  E	Carbone disulphide	75-15-0	Sulphur containing organic compound
  F	Toluene	108-88-3	Aromatic hydrocarbon
  G	Diethylamine	109-89-7	Amine
  H	Tetrahydrofurane	109-99-9	Heterocyclic and ether compound
  I	Ethyl acetate	141-78-6	Ester
  J	n-Heptane	142-82-5	Saturated hydrocarbo
  K	Sodium hydroxide 40% 1310	1310-73-2	2 Inorganic base
  L	Sulphuric acid 96%	7644-93-9	Inorganic mineral acid

• EN511 - Protection from Cold Standards

  This standard applies to any gloves to protect the hands against convective and contact cold down to –50 °C. Two effects are measured with the glove:

  Resistance to convective cold - based on the thermal insulation properties of the glove which are obtained by measuring the transfer of cold via convection.  

  Resistance to contact cold - based on the thermal resistance of the glove material when exposed to contact with a cold object.

  The last digit next to the pictogram shows if water penetrates the glove after 30 minutes. The pictogram will be accompanied by a 3-digit code

  • The first digit show resistance to convective cold (performance level 0-4)
  • The second digit show resistance to contact cold (performance level 0-4)The higher performance level the better insulating capacity.
  • The third digit show permeability to water (performance level 0 or 1). 0 = water penetration after 30 minutes. 1 = no water penetration after 30 minutes.
• EN388 - Mechanical Risk Standards

  Mechanical risk is the risk caused by abrasion, blade cut, tear and puncture to the wearer of the glove. Every glove is tested for its resistance against each of these risks and is given a rating for each. The higher the rating (5 being maximum), the better the performance of the glove against the risk.

  Performance Level	1	2	3	4	5
  6.1 Abrasion Resistance (cycles to failure)	100	500	2000	8000	n/a
  6.2 Blade Cut Resistance (min. Cut resistance index)	1.1	2.5	5.0	10	20
  6.3 Tear Resistance (lowest peak force-Newton)	10	25	50	75	n/a
  6.4 Puncture Resistance (lowest peak force-Newton)	20	60	100	150	n/a

  The performance ratings are displayed below the Mechanical Risk Pictogram.

   

• EN407 - Thermal Risk Standard

  This standard specifies test methods, general requirements, thermal performance levels and the marking of protective gloves against heat and/or fire. It is applicable to all the gloves which must protect hands against heat and/or flames under one or several of the following forms: fire, contact heat, convective heat, small projections of molten metal or big projections of molten metal. Testing can be only carried out for performance levels and not for protection ones.

  The following table shows how the gloves are tested and given a performance rating.

  Tests	Illustration	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
  Resistance to Burning (time in secs)	Time during which the material keeps burning and consuming itself after the ignition source has been removed	20	10	3	2
  Resistance to Contact Heat (time at 15 secs)	Temperature (in the range 100°C to 500°C) at which the average person wears the glove and does not feel any pain (for a period at least equal to 15 secs)	100	250	350	500
  Resistance to Convective Heat (time in secs)	Time for the temperature to rise (75 +3)°F	4	7	1	18
  Resistance to Radiant Heat (time in secs)	Time to reach a heat flux of 2.5kw/m2 on the back of the specimen	5	30	9	150
  Resistance to Small Drops of Molten Metal (no. of droplets)	Quantity of drops to raise the temperature by 104°F	5	15	25	35
  Resistance to Molten Metal Splash (weight in gms)	Quantity of molten metal just below the threshold of causing damage to artificial skin	30	60	120	200