Page 48 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2019

HAND PROTECTION
to check whether it also states “tested in glove form.”
Testing Gloves for Impact Protection
The International Safety Equipment Association has issued a new standard in 2019 enabling workers to determine the impact protec- tion of gloves (ANSI/ISEA 138, American national standard for performance and classification for impact resistant hand protection).
This new standard requires one of the three levels of impact protection defined in the standard be displayed directly on the glove and that manufacturers who want to reference the standard must have their gloves certified by a laboratory meeting the re- quirements of IEC 17025 for laboratory conformity assessment.
In addition to the knuckles, this new standard includes fingers as part of the testing requirements, which is a major distinction from the European standard for impact protection, which covers only the knuckles.
New Cut Protection Levels and More
A little more than three years ago, the guidelines for hand protec- tion were updated when the ANSI/ISEA 105-2016 handbook was issued. Several sections of the handbook were updated, but the sec- tion that received the most attention is the one that addresses the levels used to determine cut protection. With this update, the in- dustry went from having five levels to choose from to nine. When the update was issued, there were new levels for which gloves didn’t
yet exist, but the industry has been quick to supply workers with choices up to level A9 now.
Hypodermic needle puncture protection versus stylus puncture protection is a critical distinction now offered in the handbook. Gloves that offer protection from a stylus (the tip of which is 1 mm in diameter) will not guarantee protection against a hypodermic needle (the standard uses a 25-gauge needle as the reference), and serious injury can result from wearing the wrong glove.
Choose the Right Glove for the Job and the Hands Choices in hand protection have grown significantly during the past 30 years. Having so many choices can make selecting the cor- rect hand protection more challenging; however, it also has been a key component of improved worker safety by allowing safety managers to choose hand protection that properly fits their work- ers and meets the on-the-job hazards they face. Keys to success when choosing hand protection include a safety culture that pro- motes frequent job task analyses, as well as a good understanding of which test method or standard applies to the hazard that has been identified. If you need assistance with navigating the plethora of hand protection standards, consult with an expert.
Jill Clements, DuPont Aramids Account Manager, Cut & Thermal Protection, has been with DuPont for 20+ years. She is the Chair of the ISEA Hand Protection Group, serving from 2016 to 2020.
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