Hand Protection RISK Mapping

As man’s primary tool, the hand is most exposed to a multitude of risks: risks to itself, which may be mechanical, environmental or thermal, but also risks of contaminating handled products.

To best meet its customers’ needs, Deck has listed and sorted these risks. They can be browsed using our Search by risk module.

Search by risk

Search by risk is the most intuitive: everyone knows what risks they seek to protect themselves from.

The issue however is that risk perception is typically subjective and not easily quantifiable. This is why professionals have set up standards that are shared by all. They are more difficult to grasp, but much more accurate since they are based on a measurable test protocol.

Deck’s Search by risk allows you to connect risks, standards and technical features. Our algorithms ask simple questions about your risks and deduce the corresponding standards and technical characteristics.

The Search by risk is accessible from any page by clicking on the Search by criterion module on the right of the search bar, and then on “Search by criterion / risk”.

We have created 2 main risk families: the “main risks”, which can be found on the first card, and “other risks”.

Guide me:

You are first asked whether you wish to receive guidance in your risk analysis. Our algorithms ask you a series of questions to scan all the risks you may face. Questions that refer to risks irrelevant to your activities can be skipped. If you feel that your search has been satisfactory, you can end it at any time.

This series of questions is the same as the one proposed when you click on the “Guide me” button at the beginning of the search card. For more information, see the dedicated article: I would like to receive guidance in my search for a product.

Cut risk:

For efficiency’s sake, we have grouped gloves into 3 main levels of cut protection.

•        Medium: cut protection gloves of level 3, 4, B, C up to EN388
•        High: combining levels 5 and D
•        Very high: combining levels E and F

A fourth level called “Low” (not mentioned here) includes levels X, 0, 1, 2, A, equivalent to no cut protection.

Each time you click on a cut protection level, the search card invites you to specify the desired EN388 level. If you are not familiar with this standard or unable to specify, you can simply click on “Done” or “Skip” to access your search results.

By clicking on “Done”, you can see all “Very high” cut protection gloves without having to specify the standard.

Heat risk:

The heat risk is used to describe the type of heat encountered. Each type of heat is illustrated with a pictogram whose purpose is to make you “feel” the type of risk you are facing.

•        Are you at risk of touching a hot element such as an electrical resistance? If so, you need to protect yourself against contact heat. The next question relates to the element’s temperature.
•        Are you concerned that your glove may catch fire? Click on “flame” to find out how long it will take to extinguish.
•        Are you working near a source of intense heat? The ambient heat feature will let you know how long the glove can maintain a bearable heat for your hand.
•        If the heat source is radiant, such as a patio heater in a café, it is defined as “radiant heat”. Once again, your risk depends on how long you are exposed.
•        In case of sparks, you are at risk of “projection of small amounts of molten metal”. You can adjust the risk level according to the quantity of these projections.
•        If you are stirring vats of molten metal, you face a risk of “large amounts of molten metal”.
•        Welding and fire risk are other types of risks that are approached differently.

These risks are partly based on the EN407 standard. For more information, you can consult our technical blog or our article on EN407 standard search.

Cold risk:

The cold risk includes 3 main types of cold: conductive cold, contact cold and cold resistance in liquids. In practice, mainly contact cold levels 1 and 2 are used.

Liquid risk:

There are several characteristics for assessing liquid risk.

The first relates to the type of liquid you are handling. Simply select it and our algorithms will do the rest. For example, a latex glove can degrade when in contact with oil. A filter is automatically added by our algorithms to prevent you from recommending a latex glove in this situation.

The waterproofness criterion allows you to express your needs in terms of glove parts that are exposed to liquid. Once again, our algorithms will only suggest suitable coatings.

The choice between grip and part cleanliness helps you make your decision between a gripping waterproof glove and a smooth waterproof glove that doesn’t leave any trace on the parts handled.

Chemical risk:

Chemical risk is difficult to apprehend. You can select all available chemical gloves, then a specific type (A, B or C), or specify one or more products you typically deal with. To select several products, click on “I wish to select several products” and then on the tick icon in the top right corner of the card.

These risks are partly based on the EN374 standard. For more information, you can consult our technical blog or our article on EN374 standard search.

Food risk:

Food risk is not a hazard to the wearer, but rather to the food product they are handling. Its purpose is to limit “contamination” of food products by glove elements.

Basic and other risks:

You can of course combine several risks. For example, if you want to find all gloves combining medium cut protection and contact heat resistance:

1. First select the “medium” cut risk (search by criterion / hand protection / risk / cut / medium / done).

2. Then the contact heat risk (search by criterion / hand protection / risk / heat / contact heat / done).

There you go, that’s all there is to know about Search by risk! You can expand your knowledge by browsing our articles on other search criteria.