KimYuan Logo
Focus on Personal Protective Gloves

Knowledge Popularization: Protective Gloves’ Basic Standards

October 7, 2022244 ViewsKimYuan

1. EN420 General Requirements

EN 420 also concerns the glove’s overall fit and feel by testing:
• Sizing and length
• Finger dexterity 

Range: The standard indicates detailed requirements: ergonomic requirements, knitting, size, mark, and user’s information.

Marks: Each pair of gloves needs to be marked with manufacturer’s name, style, and CE. If level 3, testing laboratory name must be marked.

Size Hand size(mm) Palm perimeter/Length Min. length of glove(mm)
6 152 & 160 220
7 178 & 171 230
8 203 &182 240
9 229 & 192 250
10 254 & 204 260
11 279 & 215 270

Dexterity: It has 5 levels. During testing, tester picks up metal bars of different diameters to judge dexterity level.

PH value: All gloves must be tested PH value, and it should be within range between 3.5 and 9.5

2. EN388 Mechanical Risks

The standard states gloves’ protective functions against physical harm and mechanical risks, including abrasion resistance, blade cut resistance, tear resistance, and puncture resistance.

CharacterLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5
Abrasion resistance
(number of cycles)
10050020008000
Blade cut resistance (index)1.22.551020
Tear resistance (N)10255075
Puncture resistance2060100150

3. Thermal Hazards

A general standard designed to be used for any glove which claims protection against cold environments. The standard includes two specific tests for assessing thermal insulation: convective cold and contact cold plus other low temperature performance tests inaddition to requirements from EN388 and EN420.

EN 511: Compliance covers cold working hazards such as frozen gases. Performance levels range from 0-4; the higher the number, the higher the protection offered by the gloves.

Letter CodeLevelType
A0-4Convective cold-resistance
B0-4Contact cold-resistance
C0-1Water permeability
XTest is non-applicable or unsuccessfully completed

4. Chemical Hazards

EN374 is the EU test standard for protective chemicals for gloves and microorganisms including some physical properties, mainly about the ability of protective gloves to resist penetration, permeation and degradation. Its applicable products are what we often call non-medical protective gloves, such as PVC protective gloves, nitrile protective gloves, mixed ding protective gloves, PET protective gloves and so on.

EN 374 regulations test gloves for penetration and permeation resistance against chemical and micro-organism hazards. Results are scored 0-6, with a higher numbered result offering more safety.

Letter CodeChemical ProductLetter CodeChemical Product
AMethanolGDiethylamine
BAcetoneHTetrahydrofurane
CAcetonitrileIEthyI Acetate
DDichloromethaneJn-Heptane
ECarbon DisulphideKSodium Hydroxide 40%
FTolueneLSulphuric Acid 96%