Cut & Puncture Protective Gloves
Protective gloves represent one of the most common and most often used measures of personal protective equipment. Their role is to protect hands against various hazards, including, among others, thermal, mechanical, chemical, biological and electric ones, often combined, thus imposing onto the gloves the requirement of multiple protection.
Another important set of requirements takes account of the usability features of protective gloves. The use of protective gloves is always associated with a certain limitation of finger and hand movements and one should not expect that the ability of finger manipulation and the freedom of manual activity will be as high as when working with unprotected hands. Nevertheless, in situations, where hands are exposed to effects of dangerous factors or media, while the application of other solutions does not eliminate the hazards, the use of protective gloves becomes a necessity. At present, however, the manufacturers of personal protective equipment, considering the expectations of glove users and taking advantage of state-of-the-art technological achievements, design their products in conformity with ergonomic principles, ensuring possibly the highest level of comfort for gloved hands with as little as possible limitation of their movements. However, the balance between protective features and the comfort of use may, in some into consideration not only the type but also the level of existing hazards, the actual conditions at a given workstation, user-tailoring support and ergonomic requirements.
The selection of gloves with a broad spectrum of protective properties and at the highest possible level is not always an optimal solution. When the risk of hand injury is lower, gloves may be selected with a more compromised effectiveness of certain protective properties, however, with better manual functionality.
Depending on the type of materials used for glove design and manufacturing, various gloves demonstrate different protection and use features and, in consequence, different ranges of application.
The gloves, which protect hands against mechanical injuries, including protection against cuts and punctures, make a fairly large group among the protective gloves, available on the EU’s market. It should, however, be emphasised that not every type of gloves, protecting against cuts and punctures, will be appropriate for all types of tasks and associated hazards.
Exposure to hand injury hazards, such as the risks of direct contact with sharp, rough or pointed elements, mandrels, objects or tools, etc. affects employees of many industrial branches, e.g., food industry, plastics manufacturing, forestry, glass manufacturing, automotive, machine building, electronic, etc. This is why cut and puncture resistant gloves find such a broad range of users.
Cut and puncture resistant gloves as PPE
Protective gloves, as well as any other personal protective equipment, should be conformable with the basic requirements of the European Community Council Directive No. 89/686/ECC of December 21, 1989 (with later amendments)1. All protective gloves, which are launched onto the EU’s market, should - regardless of their category - be subject of conformity assessment and marked with the CE mark of conformity. Therefore, a potential user of protective gloves should select only these brands which fulfil the criteria of the above-mentioned Directive and which are marked with the CE mark. There are different conformity assessment procedures, depending which category of hazard level applies to studied gloves.
Gloves, protecting against mild mechanical injuries with superficial, slow and gradual occurrence of sideeffects, easily identifiable in time by the user of gloves, are assigned to simple personal protective equipment, i.e., to Category I. Gardening gloves, which protect against mechanical hazards with superficial effects, may be a good example. In case of protective gloves in Category I, taking into consideration the conformity assessment procedure, the manufacturer ensures conformity of the gloves with the general requirements of the Directive, prepares technical documentation, including the user’s manual, issues the declaration of conformity with the provisions of the Directive and, finally, marks the product with the CE mark of conformity. Protective gloves against mechanical hazards which may result in injuries more extensive than superficial changes, including gloves, which protect against cuts and punctures, are assigned to Category II of personal protective equipment. Following the conformity assessment procedure, these gloves are subject of EC-type examination, performed by a notified body, which issues a certificate of EC type examination. Only then may the manufacturer issue the declaration of conformity and mark the gloves with the CE mark of conformity.
Protective gloves, assigned to Category II of personal protective equipment, are marked with appropriate pictograms, designating the type of hazard against which the gloves protect. These pictograms are not used for marking gloves in Category I. In order to provide evidence of the product conformity with the requirements of 89/686/ EEC Directive, the gloves are submitted to tests and evaluations, according to directive-harmonised standards. Depending on the type of gloves and, in particular, the type of their application, various European standards are referenced to verify the product conformity with the requirements of the Directive. The harmonised standards, defining the testing methods and requirements for glove resistance to cuts and punctures, include the following European standards: EN 388:2003 2, EN ISO 13997:19993, EN 1082- 1:19964, EN 1082-2:20005, EN 1082-3:20026, EN 14328:20057, EN 381-7:19998, EN 381-4:19999. The reference to harmonised standards is not obligatory but it is a tool which enables verification of product conformity with Directive requirements. Therefore, the requirements, defined in those standards, are the base of reference, both for product manufacturers and for notified bodies.
Cut resistant gloves
Hand injuries resulting from cuts may occur from direct contact with various sharp, rough objects or surfaces, a chainsaw, hand knives, as well as powered knives. Therefore, the gloves which are to protect hands against cuts, should be selected according to their protective properties, confirmed by appropriate test and evaluation methods and adjusted to a given type of hazard. Resistance to cuts is tested by various testing facilities with cutting elements, which cut a tested material under a certain force. See Figure 1 for examples of various cutting elements, conformable with appropriate harmonised standards.
Resistance to cuts is characterised by means of various indices, depending on the applied testing method.
In case of testing resistance to cuts acc. to EN 388:2003 standard, the tested specimen is cut with a round blade with normalised parameters. The blade moves with horizontal, alternate shifts under load of 5 ± 0,05 N, making complete turns in direction opposite to its movement. Taking into account the number of blade cycles, i.e., the number of its rotations, causing specimen cutting (both of tested specimen and the specimen of reference material), the “I” index is calculated and provided without any units; the index is the result of cutting resistance test (2). This index is taken into consideration when glove performance level is determined, regarding cut resistance and with reference to EN 388:2003 standard. This performance level is provided in the code (by the 2nd digit), placed on the glove next to the pictogram, designating resistance against mechanical factors according to the same standard. With regards to cut resistance, five performance levels are defined in EN 388:2003 standard, where the higher the level, the higher the cut resistance of gloves.
In case of protective gloves with very high resistance to cuts, the number of which has gradually been growing on the market of personal protective equipment, the method, as described in EN 388:2003 standard, is rather inadequate to determine cut resistance. For this reason, it has been allowed to test the cut resistance of protective gloves acc. to another method, described in the EN ISO 13997:1999 European Standard (3).
Material resistance to cuts acc. to EN ISO 13997:1999 standard, is determined by pulling a blade of known characteristics over the tested specimen with constant, normal force, applied at the blade-tested specimen contact point. The force is applied to the blade perpendicularly to the tested specimen. In the course of the test, the distance is measured, made by the blade till complete specimen cutting. The test result is material resistance to cuts, expressed by the force which is necessary to cut a specimen by the blade on the length of 20 mm3. The higher the force to cut the specimen on this length, the higher material cut resistance.
Following the guidelines, as defined in EN 388:2003 standard, performance level No. 4, regarding cut resistance, measured by the method described in this standard, reflects force level of ≥ 13N, necessary to cut the specimen by the method, conformable with EN ISO 13997:1999. Analogically - performance level No. 5 reflects the cutting force ≥ 22 N.
Protective gloves of high and very high cut resistance are most often manufactured as knitted products, made of various aramid fibre yarns (e.g. Kevlar®, Kevlar®KleenTM, Kevlar®PlusTM, Kevlar®Armor technology, Twaron®, Twaron®Premium Line), PE fibre yarns, including Dyneema®, Spectra®, Spektra®GuardTM, Spektra®GuardTMCX, Spektra®CX and Vectran®, yarns with metal elements (stainless steel), glass fibres of twisted or core structure. Also often used are mixed yarns, made of the above-mentioned types.
Cut resistance of knitted fabrics may vary, even in case of using the same raw material type but at different number of yarn threads, its thickness and knitting weave.
Some knitted gloves, made of yarns with very high resistance to cuts, are additionally coated - entirely or with dots in the glove palm - with a layer of appropriate polymer.
Point coating is to provide gloves with antislip grip of objects with smooth surfaces. The glove palm coating is also provided to increase protective parameters of the gloves. The unquestionable advantage of knitted gloves, either uncoated or point-coated, is their good fit to user’s hand, therefore, the gloves of this type are especially recommended for works, where the freedom of finger movements is a priority. Besides, knitted gloves provide air circulation between hand and environment, that supports moisture elimination and optimises the quality values of the products.
Metal elements, e.g., as metal plates, are also applied in the design of protective gloves, providing high resistance to cuts. The gloves of high resistance to cuts are also made of cow leather with internal lining, configured either as a knitted glove or made of knitted fabric from yarns very highly resistant to cuts.
The gloves, evaluated acc. to EN 388:2003 standard, are appropriate to protect hands from cuts by sharp and/or rough or surfaces, but they will not guarantee protection in case of using hand knives, chainsaws or powered knives. These applications and hazards require gloves of different design and cut resistance, the latter to be confirmed by appropriate test methods. Regarding hand-held chainsaw operations, appropriate protective gloves should demonstrate protective properties which have been assessed according to EN 381-7:1999 standard. According to this standard, two glove designs can be distinguished, regarding the gloves to be used by hand-held chainsaw operators, namely, design A and design B. Five-finger gloves of A design have no anti-cut protection, either in finger or thumb region, while the gloves of B design, being either one- or five-fingered, are provided with special protection against chainsaw cuts, as in A design, plus with an additional protection in the glove finger back part, except the thumb. A design gloves are recommended when, beside the protection against chainsaw cuts, also finger flexibility is required during performer tasks (8).
The gloves, protecting against chainsaw cuts, are tested by the method defined in EN 381-4:1999 standard. A tested glove is put on an artificial hand and submitted to cutting with a chainsaw, where the force applied to the chainsaw in the contact point with the cut specimen is 15 ± 0,5 N. Glove cuts are made in various positions (e.g., across back of metacarpus of left hand, across back of fingers of left hand). In the tests, different chain speeds are applied: 20, 24 and 28 m/s8. Depending on chain speeds, at which the tested material is not cut, the test result is classified to one of the three following classes: class 1: 20 m/s, class 2: 24 m/s, class 3: 28 m/s. The gloves to be used for hand protection against chainsaw cuts are marked with a pictogram , following EN 381-7:1999 standard. It should be emphasised that, in case of the discussed gloves, only one glove in the pair (left-hand glove) provides protection against cuts by hand-held chainsaw, while the second one protects against mechanical factors, according to the earlier mentioned EN 388:2003 standard (2). Therefore, one glove in the pair is marked with a pictogram acc. to EN 381-7:1999 standard and the other, with a pictogram acc. to EN 388:2003 standard.
The gloves, protecting against chain saw cuts, are most often made from a material system, including leathers, fabrics and coated materials. The most important element in the design of the gloves is a protective layer in the glove back, inserted under the outer fabric and providing protection against cuts. This protective layer is often made of material system of high cut resistance. It should, however, be kept in mind that, regardless of the applied design patterns and materials, there is no personal protective equipment which ensures a 100% protection against chainsaw cuts (8).
When hand knives are in use, protective gloves should be worn, the protective features are evaluated according to EN 1082-1:1996 or EN 1082-2:2000 standards. In this case, protection should be provided not only against cuts but also against stabs by hand knives. Therefore, the testing principle of protective gloves for works with hand knives includes glove material resistance testing by multiple falls of a normalised knife point - with preset energy - on tested material. The primary endpoint of the study is the depth of specimen puncture in mm, which, in case of chain mail gloves, should not exceed the value of 17 mm, regarding every single puncture, while the mean value of puncture depth should not exceed 10 mm. In case of gloves, made of other materials, the mean puncture depth should not exceed 8 mm, and the depth of a single puncture should not exceed 14 mm (4,5).
In case of gloves, protecting against hand-knife cuts and stabs, made of materials other than chain mail, cut resistance tests are also performed according to EN ISO 13997:1999 standard3. Here, tested gloves should not be cut by force ≤ 20 N.
The gloves for works with high risk of hand injury are made of chain mail (most often stainless steel rings), they may also have a long or short cuff, providng protection for the entire forearm or its part. Similarly as in case of gloves for works with hand-held chainsaws, the gloves for works with hand knives should be carefully selected to fit the user’s hand size. Cotton yarn gloves may be put on under chain mail gloves, what increases the comfort of work.
In case of gloves, protecting against cuts and stabs by hand knives, a pictogram is used acc. to EN 1082- 1:1996 standard. Neither any letter nor coding is applied with this pictogram.
When there is a risk of hand cuts during operation of powered knives, the gloves should be used, which fulfil the requirements of EN 14328:2005 standard (7). Following the guidelines of this standard, the only known and available type of gloves to be used during works with powered knives, is the chain mail option.
It should however be emphasised that even chain mail gloves may be cut in direct contact with powered knives and there have been no other materials, which would guarantee satisfactory and effective protection against powered knives. At the same time, in result of direct contact of a chain mail glove with a moving knife, vibrations and noise are generated which alarm the glove user of immediate emergency and the need of hand withdrawal to avoid injury.
In case of the gloves, used for hand protection against cuts from powered knives, no pictograms are applied designating the type of hazard (7).
Puncture resistant gloves
Regarding hand protection against punctures, only two testing methods are available, applicable for protective gloves and defined in the standards, harmonised with Directive 89/686/ EEC. One of the test methods is the, already discussed, method of impact cut resistance, acc. to EN 1082- 1:1996 and EN 1082-3:2002 standards, which are applicable for protective gloves to be used for works with hand knives. The testing method, described in these standards, combines the evaluation of resistance to cuts and of resistance to puncture with a knife point.
The other method of glove resistance testing against punctures is the procedure acc. to EN 388:2003 standard. In this method, the main point is the determination of the force level, necessary to puncture the tested specimen by a steel stylus of normalised dimensions. The stylus falls on a test specimen with speed of 100 mm/min., making a distance of 50 mm vs. the specimen. The endpoint of the test is the highest recorded force in N, even if it does not result in specimen puncture. The gloves are evaluated with reference to the least of all the values recorded for all the tested specimens. On the basis of the recorded force values, glove performance level is determined which, according to the standard, may vary from 1 to 42. The higher the performance level, the higher the glove resistance to puncture.
The gloves, which fulfil the requirements of EN 388:2003 standard, include most often the glove types which are resistant to abrasion and cutting, as well as to tearing. These are gloves made of leathers, leathers and fabrics, knitted or made of fabric, coated on the back side with a polymer layer, most often nitrile rubber, poly vinyl chloride, polyurethane or natural latex.
Knitted gloves without coating are not, however, recommendable as hand protection against punctures. However, certain knitted gloves are evaluated with regards to puncture resistance and fulfil the standard requirements for this parameter, what depends on the type and thickness of yarn applied in glove design, knitted fabric weave or the knitting needle configuration on the machine on which the gloves have been produced. However, to increase the protection against punctures, knitted gloves are coated with a polymer layer in the palm part or the palm part is reinforced with leather. Resistance to puncture, tested acc. to EN 388:2003 standard, is different for the gloves, made of different materials, see Table 1 for examples of test results, regarding puncture resistance of several glove types. The puncture resistance test method acc. to EN 388:2003 is not appropriate for glove puncture tests with needles, spikes or any other sharp pointed objects. No standard, harmonised with the personal protective equipment directive, has been developed so far, which would include a method of glove evaluation, regarding its resistance to punctures with needles, etc.
Conclusion
The large number of materials and design patterns, used in cut protecting gloves, gives a possibility to select such gloves which will be characterised by protective properties, appropriate for the actual work types and associated hazards. In the selection of gloves, protecting against cuts and punctures, one should also take into consideration the size of selected gloves, which should well be fitted to the size of glove user’s hand. For it may happen that gloves with good protective parameters but with wrong size will not only provide expected protection but they may even introduce additional risks of hand injuries.
Regarding all types of protective gloves, it should be kept in mind that a detailed information, concerning the application and use of gloves, including the specification of protective features, the recommended cleaning and maintenance methods, as well as the storage conditions, are contained in the manufacturer’s instruction manual, enclosed to the product.
This information should carefully be read prior to glove use, while strictly following all the manufacturer’s recommendations when using the product.
References
1. Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment, Official Journal of the European Communities, L. 399, 30.12.1989 with later amendments
2. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (2003). Protective gloves against mechanical risks (Standard No. EN 388:2003). Brussels, Belgium: Author
3. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (1999). Protective clothing. Mechanical properties. Determination of resistance to cutting by sharp objects (Standard No. EN ISO 13997:1999, EN ISO 13997:1999/AC:2000). Brussels, Belgium: Author
4. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (1996). Protective clothing. Gloves and arm guards protecting against cuts and stabs by hand knives. Part 1: Chain mail gloves and arm guards (Standard No. EN 1082-1:1996). Brussels, Belgium: Author
5. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (2000). Protective clothing. Gloves and arm guards protecting against cuts and stabs by hand knives. Part 2: Gloves and arm guards made of material other than chain mail (Standard No. EN 1082-2:2000). Brussels, Belgium: Author
6. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (2002). Protective clothing. Gloves and arm guards protecting against cuts and stabs by hand knives. Part 3: Impact cut test for fabric, leather and other materials (Standard No. EN 1082-3:2002) Brussels, Belgium: Author
7. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (2005). Protective clothing. Gloves and arm guards protecting against cuts by powered knives. Requirements and test methods (Standard No. EN 14328:2005). Brussels, Belgium: Author
8. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (1999). Protective clothing for users of hand-held chainsaws. Part 7: Requirements for chainsaw protective gloves (Standard No. EN 381-7:1999). Brussels, Belgium: Author
9. European Committee for Standardization (CEN). (1999). Protective clothing for users of hand-held chainsaws. Part 4: Test methods for chainsaw protective gloves (Standard No. EN 381-4:1999) Brussels, Belgium: Author
Author Details:
Agnieszka Stefko, M.Sc. (Eng.)
Assistant at the Department of Personal Protective Equipment in Lodz, Central Institute of Labour Protection - National Research Institute (CIOP-PIB) in Warsaw.
Ms. A. Stefko specialises in the issues concerning in particular protective gloves. She is actively involved in research projects, regarding the effects of various factors on the protective features of gloves, including their resistance to cuts, hot factors, as well as in projects of new protective glove design patterns and, in general, in the research methodology concerning protective gloves and footwear.
www.ciop.pl
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