The risk of getting cut is omnipresent in the industrial field.
In the construction industry, but also in the food or automotive industry, many work situations lead to a major risk of cuts on a daily basis. In the workshop or on a construction site, there are numerous sources of cuts: handling fixed or portable cutting parts (grinders, planes, chainsaws, etc.), handling sharp objects such as hand tools (cutters, chisels, saws, etc.) or handling sharp materials (sheets of paper, cardboard, high-pressure jets, etc.). Even if the injuries are often minor, the consequences can sometimes be very severe and even disabling: deep cuts on the palm, infection following a badly treated injury, severing a nerve, finger amputation, skin abrasion, tearing or puncture. Mechanical aggressions are everywhere and accidents can happen very quickly. To protect workers against the risk of cuts, it is therefore necessary to reinforce safety at work. Wearing gloves with an appropriate level of protection, from the fingertips to the wrist, is a necessary and vital step in guaranteeing the worker’s health. Let us not forget that the hands are often the first part of the body to be exposed to machines and products. In France, the European Hand Institute counts more than 2 million hand accidents per year, of which nearly 130,000 are related to work accidents.
Prevent the risk of cuts by wearing appropriate gloves
To avoid cuts and injuries as much as possible, protective gloves are essential. They are real personal protective equipment for hands, which, thanks to their high resistance, ensure optimal safety for the user. When properly chosen, these safety gloves also provide good dexterity for handling, including precision work. Above all, the pair of cut protection gloves must comply with the EN 388 standard.
The EN 388 standard for cut protection gloves.
Not all safety gloves offer the same protection against risks. Cut protection gloves must meet the requirements of the EN 388 standard, it is mandatory for manufacturers. It defines the resistance levels of the glove’s textile, leather and other components.
What is the EN 388 standard?
The EN 388 standard covers mechanical risks that can lead to cuts. It guarantees that specific tests have been carried out and approved to guarantee the resistance levels of mechanical protection gloves:
- Cut resistance: is based on the number of cycles required for the circular blade to cut the glove at constant speed and load.
- Resistance to abrasion: it defines the number of cycles necessary for the abrasive paper (sandpaper type) to create a hole on the tested glove’s palm.
- Tear resistance: This indicator measures the strength required to tear the sample. The test is performed by stretching the glove’s palm at both ends.
- Puncture resistance: it specifies the strength needed to pierce the palm with a standard punch.
The EN 388 standard evolved in 2016 to strengthen the tests performed and make gloves subject to these standards even more reliable. In particular, the cut test is evolving to comply with the EN ISO 13997 standard, and the impact protection is now also tested.
What are the cut tests performed on these gloves?
Among the cut tests, the Couptest is one of the references in cut resistance testing defined by the EN388 standard. The Couptest is a laboratory device designed to test the cut resistance of hand protection gloves. Its circular blade performs rotary and linear movements on the sample with a fixed pressure force. The device automatically detects the cut of the sample and the number of cycles is recorded by an electronic meter. The test is repeated five times in order to calculate precisely the index and the level of protection to the cut.
However, the Couptest has limitations with regard to highly cut-resistant materials. Therefore the latest revision of the EN388 standard has officially introduced the ISO 13997 standard and the TDM test device. This test is carried out with variable pressure forces and several mandatory measurements allow the calculation of the pressure force in Newton necessary to cut the glove after a 20mm blade passage.
How to determine the level of cut protection of a pair of gloves?
On the glove, an EN388 pictogram with 4 digits and a letter allows you to know its level of protection against cuts, provided you know how to decode it. To do this, nothing could be simpler: the second number noted from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest level) is the cut level according to the Couptest and the letter in 5th position noted from A to F (F being the highest level) is the cut resistance according to the TDM.
