Mapping of Hand Protection STANDARDS
To meet its customers’ needs, Deck has listed and sorted all standards related to hand protection. These standards can be explored from our search module.
Search by standard
Old standard, new standard, obscure tests: a comprehensive understanding of all standards is paramount in selecting the right glove. In this video, we will demystify the search by standard.
EN388 :
The EN388 standard is the main tool used to describe glove mechanical protection. In this video, we will see how to search for an EN388 glove. You can access the EN388 standard search from any page by opening a search, then clicking on “search by criterion”, “standard”, and “EN388”.
Entering digits :
First available option, entering digits can prove useful when your customer asks for glove “4343BX”: click on this button to input the 6 digits requested.
EN388-2003 et EN388-2016
Another option is to distinguish between EN388-2003 and EN388-2016, but also to combine these two versions of the standard in the EN388-mix, which takes into account the most recent standard available for each glove.
As you probably know, the EN388 standard was updated in 2016. To help you compare the old and new standards, both are kept in our database. For example, you will find the EN388-2003 standard, which deals with resistance to abrasion, cutting, tearing and puncture, while the EN388-2016 standard focuses on impact resistance and cut resistance with an ISO test.
For instance, you can search for all gloves ranked “5” in terms of cut resistance according to EN388-2003, and that have been upgraded to ISO cut level “D” with the EN388-2016 standard.
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EN388 mix :
As long as all gloves on the market have not been updated, these 2 standards will de facto coexist. It can be a problem if you search for all gloves ranked “4” in terms of abrasion resistance according to EN388-2003, as it would exclude all gloves ranked “4” in terms of abrasion resistance according to EN388. This is why we have created standard mixes that retain the most recent standard available for each glove. For each glove, we retain the new standard if we have it, and the old standard if the new one is not available.
With this solution, you can find all gloves ranked “4” in terms of abrasion resistance, whether they have the EN388-2016 standard or not.
Mix coupure EN388-2003 / EN388-2016 :
The new EN388 standard has 2 digits relating to cut resistance. This can also be an issue if you search for all gloves ranked “D” in terms of cut resistance (according to the EN388-2016 ISO), it would exclude all cut-resistant gloves that do not yet have this new standard. To overcome this, we use the ISO letter mark or the digit relative to cut resistance from the new 2016 standard for each glove. If this information is missing, we use the digit relative to cut resistance from the old 2003 standard.
With this solution, you can find all gloves ranked “3”, “4”, “C” and “D” in terms of cut resistance.
To learn more about this standard, you can refer to our technical blog: EN388 standard
EN374 :
EN374 is the standard that regulates glove tightness and resistance to chemicals, microorganisms and viruses. Here, we’ll see how to search for an EN374 glove. The EN374 standard search is accessible from any page by opening the search module, then clicking on “search by criterion”, “standard”, and “EN374”.
Similarly to EN388, the Search Card allows you to search either the old EN374-2003 or the new EN374-2016 standard. The 2003 standard distinguished basic sealing, 12-letter chemical permeation, and sealing against microorganisms. The EN374-2016 standard now distinguishes glove types, 18-product chemical permeation, protection against microorganisms and viruses. To learn more about this standard, you can refer to our technical blog: EN374 standard.
Once again, we’ve created a “mix” between these 2 standards. If you are looking for all gloves protecting against Methanol AND Acetone, the result list will include all available gloves that meet the old and new standards.
To learn more about this standard, you can refer to our technical blog: EN374 standard
EN407 :
Here, we will see how to search for an EN407 glove. Each type of heat is illustrated with a pictogram whose purpose is to make you “feel” the type of risk you are facing. A flame for fire resistance, an electrical resistance for contact heat, hot air for convective heat, a radiant heater for radiant heat, sparks for small splashes of molten metal, and molten metal for large splashes of molten metal.
For each type of heat and level, we’ve also listed the elements measured during testing. In our opinion, this can effectively help you make a valid connection between a standard and the reality of the risks you face.
For example, a glove’s fire behaviour is assessed through testing, by considering the time it takes (in seconds) for a burning glove to put itself out. We have reported the test results here (in seconds).
For contact heat, the temperature of the object is taken into account during the test.
For convective heat, the test measures the time during which the glove maintains a normal temperature on the inside in the presence of an open flame.
For radiant heat, it measures the time during which the glove protects against a rise in temperature in the presence of thermal radiation.
For small splashes of molten metal, we measure the number of metal droplets in contact that cause a rise in temperature inside the glove.
Finally, for large molten metal splashes, we provide the weight (in grams) of molten metal used in testing to burn a synthetic skin inside the glove.
To learn more about this standard, please refer to our technical blog: EN407 standard.
EN511, EN421, Food standard, ESD, EN12477:
There are a multitude of standards to describe a glove. The main standards (EN388, EN374, EN407) are described in the other videos in this article. We will now focus on other standards.
The EN511 standard has 3 digits because it measures conductive cold, contact cold and waterproofness. You can read more about it in our technical blog.
The EN421 standard deals with protection against radioactive dust. A simple click on this standard will filter all gloves concerned.
The food standard is used to approve food contact compatible products. A simple click on this standard will also filter all food compatible gloves.
The ESD standard does not really exist for gloves. To report on the ESD characteristics of a glove, manufacturers use different standards from other fields of application such as EN16350, EN1149 and EN61340, or simply mention its “ESD” characteristics without any further detail. We have grouped all these elements here.
The welding standard EN12477 helps us distinguish between type A and B welding gloves.
And finally, the standard on electrical protection helps us distinguish various levels of electrical classes. We have added the corresponding voltages for a better understanding.