HAND PROTECTION
You work with different materials, tools and machines. Every movement carries a certain risk of injury. This can be greatly reduced by regularly wearing protective gloves and using suitable skin protection products. Healthy hands are a craftsman's most important tools.
Below we give you the most important information and tips to help you protect your hands as best as possible from damage caused by external influences during your everyday work.
PROTECTIVE GLOVES
Different activities involve different risks for your hands. That is why all gloves are assigned to a risk category, which is defined by the PPE Regulation 2016/425 as follows:
Category I
Covers minor risks such as superficial mechanical injuries, contact with slightly aggressive cleaning agents, or hot surfaces below 50°C. An example of a protective glove in this category is the cotton jersey gloves.
Category II
Covers risks that do not fall under Category I or Category III. Protective gloves in this category include, for example, our cut-resistant gloves.
Category III
Covers risks that can lead to serious consequences, such as death or irreversible health damage, like cuts from chainsaws or exposure to environments above 100°C. Protective gloves in this category include chemical protection gloves.
AREA OF APPLICATION
1. General assembly and mechanical work
Knitted gloves and coated gloves are usually preferred for assembly and mechanical work. In most cases, they consist of a seamless, round-knit backing fabric with a special coating. Different materials and processes are used in this respect that have a significant effect on the properties of the glove.
Knitted support material:
The density of the weave is usually indicated in "gauge" and indicates how the support material was knitted. "Gauge" describes the mesh count in one inch (1 inch = 2.54 cm). Thus: The higher the gauge, the finer the support material.
The Coating:
The material and type of coating have a significant influence on the properties of gloves in terms of mechanical properties (abrasion, puncture, etc.), grip, sensitivity, breathability and chemical resistance. The following four coatings are characterized by different properties.
Natural Latex:
- High flexibility, even in cold weather
- Good mechanical properties and good resistance to cleaning and detergents, soaps and alkalis. Not suitable for oils and fats
- May cause allergic reactions
Nitrile:
- Good mechanical properties as well as good abrasion and puncture resistance
- Very good grip in dry areas
- Good resistance to diluted acids and alkalis, petrol-like substances, paints, varnishes, cooling lubricants, oils and greases
Nitrile Foam:
Compared to standard nitrile coatings, the open-pored design of the coating ensures improved breathability and thus higher comfort.
Polyurethane (PU):
- Very breathable and comfortable
- Thin coatings are possible, meaning maximum sensitivity can be achieved
2. Cut-resistant gloves
Cut-resistant gloves are primarily designed to protect against injuries caused by cuts. In addition to high cut resistance, other properties such as a high level of grip, abrasion resistance or heat resistance play an important role, depending on the area of application. Our range includes many different cut-resistant gloves so that you have the ideal hand protection for your tasks.
To ensure that you have the ideal hand protection for your activities, our product selection includes many different cut protection gloves. The characteristics of each model and the differences between them can be found on the e-Shop product pages.
3. Chemical and disposable gloves
Protection against chemicals
Chemical and disposable gloves are designed to protect against chemical risks. An important distinguishing criterion for these gloves is their permeation performance. Permeation is the process by which a chemical penetrates the protective glove material at a molecular level. The time from the first contact of the chemical with the glove to the penetration of the material is the breakthrough time and is specified in a performance level.
4. Heat protection gloves
The requirements for heat protection gloves are very diverse. Depending on the area of application and environmental conditions, a wide variety of factors must be taken into account in order to ensure effective protection for the user. Protection against thermal risks for protective gloves is regulated by EN 407-2004. This involves an assessment of the following test criteria. The possible assessments range from zero to four. The higher the performance level, the higher the protection factor.
- Burning behaviour
- Contact heat
- Convective heat
- Radiant heat
- Exposure to small splashes of molten metal
- Exposure to large amounts of liquid metal
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