Personal safety.

Work gloves, the standards and pictograms.

There are many standards for work gloves, in which we want to limit ourselves to the standards EN420, EN388, EN407 and EN374 that are most commonly used. The EN420 standard is for 'minimal risk' gloves and is also referred to as category 1 gloves. Since all gloves must meet this basic standard, no specific pictogram has been developed for this. The EN388 standard is for 'mechanical risks'. Gloves under this standard require a type examination carried out by a recognized laboratory (notified body). Also called category 2 gloves.

The glove is tested for:

• abrasion resistance
• cut resistance
• tensile resistance
• puncture resistance

The scores of which can be found in this order by the hammer icon.

Passing these tests results in a certificate as proof of a class 2 glove according to standard EN388.

For gloves intended for applications involving heat and / or fire, there is an addition to the EN388 standard: the EN407. Gloves that pass these tests also receive the scores on a corresponding certificate and also receive the icon with the flame.

The parameters to be tested are in fixed order: the non-flammability, the resistance to radiant heat and the resistance to small molten metal particles.

Another addition to the EN388 standard is the EN374. The glove was tested for the permeability of the chemicals. The scores can once again be found on an accompanying certificate. This standard is identified by the bottle icon.

The pictograms with scores can be found in the instructions for use that must be supplied with each smallest packaging unit.