Work gloves standards

2. Standard EN ISO 374 protection against chemicals and micro-organisms

The European standard for gloves intended to protect against chemicals and micro-organisms has been revised and updated. The new standard (EN ISO 374:2016) was published in 2017 and replaces the EN 374:2003 standard. The new EN ISO 374:2016 standard refines the requirements that gloves must meet to protect the hands of workers exposed to hazardous chemicals and microorganisms. The new EN ISO 374:2016 standard makes test results more consistent and facilitates the choice of chemical-resistant gloves for users and safety advisors.

(Old) Standard EN ISO 374:2003

This standard is mainly aimed at the penetration and permeation of hazardous substances and acids. Penetration means that the glove must not leak and permeation indicates that the glove must not behave like a sponge, otherwise the skin will still come into contact with the fabric.

The icons used for this are as follows:

• Image 1 - EN 374-1: is accompanied by letters that represent different chemicals that the glove must protect you against for at least 30 minutes. In short, permeation resistant to three chemicals.
• Image 2 - EN 374-2: means that the glove is penetration resistant (and therefore does not leak), but is not yet resistant to specific chemicals.
• Image 3 - EN 374-3: means that the glove achieves at least performance level 3 of the penetration test.

(New) Standard EN ISO 374-1:2016

According to the new standard, a glove that protects against chemicals is therefore certified according to EN ISO 374-1:2016. This part 1 describes the requirements that such a glove must meet. These requirements are:

• Comply with the leakage tests whose methods are described in EN ISO 374-2:2014
• Meeting permeation requirements for one or more chemicals. This test method is described in EN 16523-1:2015 (former EN 374-3:2003).

The three pictograms from the old EN 374 standard have been replaced by one pictogram for three categories of chemical gloves, with the addition of a letter. The new standard therefore specifies three levels of protection based on permeation performance (EN 374-2:2014). Gloves are classified as Type A, Type B or Type C and labeled accordingly with new pictograms.

Type A - Breakthrough time is equal to or greater than 30 minutes for at least six chemicals from the list
Type B - Breakthrough time is equal to or greater than 30 min for at least three chemicals from the list
Type C - Breakthrough time is equal to or greater than 10 min for at least one chemical from the list

In the new EN ISO 374:2016 instead of twelve, eighteen substances are now defined. Below you will find an overview of all eighteen substances.

Eighteen substances are defined in EN ISO 374:2016:

• A - Methanol (Primary alcohol)
• B - Acetone (Ketone)
• C - Acetonitrile (Nitrile compound)
• D - Dichloromethane (Chlorinated hydrocarbon)
• E - Carbon disulfide (Sulphur-containing organic compound)
• F - Toluene (Aromatic hydrocarbon)
• G - Diethylamine (Amine)
• H - Tetrahydrofuran (Heterocyclic and ether compound)
• I - Ethyl acetate (Ester)
• J - n-Heptane (Saturated hydrocarbon)
• K - 40% sodium hydroxide (Inorganic base)
• L - 96% sulfuric acid (Inorganic mineral acid, oxidizing)
• M - 65% nitric acid (Inorganic acid, oxidizing)
• N - 99% acetic acid (Organic acid)
• O - 25% ammonia (Organic base)
• P - 30% hydrogen peroxide (Peroxide)
• S - 40% fluoro acid (Inorganic acid)
• T - 37% formaldehyde (Inorganic mineral Aldehyde)

EN ISO 374-4:2013 - DEGRADATION TEST

The new EN ISO 374:2016 standard also describes two measurements of glove degradation for the first time. The performance of the degradation tests is described in the EN ISO 374-4:2013 standard. The gloves are measured before and after contact with a chemical in two ways:

1. Test for resistance to degradation by puncture
2. Weight change test

EN ISO 374-5:2016 - PROTECTIVE GLOVES AGAINST HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND MICRO-ORGANISMS

The new standard introduces tests for protection against viruses. The previous standard covered fungi and bacteria. New markings on the packaging indicate whether the gloves protect against bacteria and fungi alone or against bacteria, fungi and viruses. The biohazard pictogram is used to mark gloves that protect against bacteria and fungi. The pictogram is accompanied by the word 'VIRUS' if the glove meets the requirements of the virus test method.

View chemical resistant work gloves (EN 374)

3. Standard EN 407: protection against thermal risks

This standard protects the hands against heat and/or fire. Here too, different letters apply to the icon that indicate how much the material can handle:

• A: has to do with flammability and fire behavior. In short: how long the material continues to burn after the source has been removed (performance level 0 - 4).
• B: refers to contact heat or how long the wearer does not feel pain at 100 - 500 degrees Celsius (performance level 0 - 4).
• C: concerns protection against convective heat, based on the time in which the material can delay a flame (performance level 0 - 4).
• D: protection against radiant heat or the extent to which the material can slow down heat transfer (performance level 0 - 4).
• E: means to what extent the gloves protect against small splashes of molten steel (performance level 0 - 4).
• F: concerns the extent to which gloves protect against large splashes of molten steel (performance level 0 - 4).

4. Standard EN 421: protection against radiation and radioactivity

For protection against radioactivity a glove must be liquid-tight and pass the penetration test. To protect the hands against radiation, the glove must contain lead.

The icons on the right mean protection against ionizing radiation (left) and radioactivity (right).

5. Standard EN 511: protection against cold

This standard applies to gloves that protect the hands against conductive and contact cold down to -50°C. The protection against cold is indicated by a pictogram followed by a series of three performance levels which refer to specific protective properties, namely (A) protection against convective cold, (B) protection against contact cold and (C) water permeability.

Cold-resistant work gloves must therefore protect against both penetrating cold (convection cooling) and contact cold (direct contact with cold objects). In both cases, 4 is the highest performance level. There are two values ​​for the waterproofness of the work glove: 0 and 1. If no water has penetrated after 30 minutes, the glove is marked with the value 1.

• 1st digit (comes to A, see the image): Convective cold (0-4)
• 2nd digit (goes to B, see the image): Contact cold (0-4)
• 3rd number (comes to C, see the image): Water repellency (0-1)

View cold-resistant work gloves (EN 511)

6. EC nutritional guideline

This framework directive (EC) 1935/2004 lays down the principles for all materials that may come into contact with food. The directive stipulates that during normal use materials may not release components into foodstuffs in quantities that are dangerous to human health or that lead to an unacceptable change in the composition of the foodstuffs (or that can lead to an impairment of the organoleptic properties, such as taste, color, texture, smell). The guideline distinguishes seventeen material groups. Work gloves fall into the plastic material group.

When buying work gloves you should therefore look carefully at the standards that the gloves must meet. Next, you need to look closely at performance levels. For more information about the various standards or for questions about one of our products, please feel free to contact us. We are always happy to help you with your questions.

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