HAND AND ARM PROTECTION EQUIPMENT

Gloves should be used at home, at work and in every field in order to prevent work accidents and not to endanger people’s health.

Protective gloves can be diversified according to the type of material used in production. Examples of glove types are knit, leather, textile, polymer, latex, rubber, chain knit gloves.

The type of glove should be preferred considering its functions and usage areas.

Business sectors where we need to use PPE to protect our hands and arms according to risk diversity; welding works, work environment that requires cutting and shredding, production of sharp-edged products that may cause injury, working with dangerous chemicals, working with biological agents, working environment requiring high and low temperatures, working areas with knife cutting machines…

The size of the glove is as important as the area of use for the comfort and safety of the user. It is necessary to be able to easily remove gloves or armbands in case of potential dangers.

It should be noted that the selected product is CE certified in the correct function and in accordance with the correct standard.

All Protective gloves must meet the requirements of the TS EN ISO 21420 standard.

Personal protective equipment (helmets, shields) designed and produced for the use of security forces, members of the army or those in charge of maintaining law and order are not within the scope of the “Personal Protective Equipment Regulation”.

How is Product Categorization and Certification for Gloves under PPE?

For CE certification of personal protective equipment, first of all, it should be determined which category the products belong to.

Categorizations according to 2016 /425 /EU PPE Regulation; It is Category I, Category II and Category III.

• Category I – Simple designed products that protect against low-level risks (eg household gloves)
• Category III – products of complex design that protect against life-threatening risks that can seriously harm health (at high temperatures, when working with hazardous chemicals, etc.).
• Category II – Includes other products not covered by Category I and III.

Manufacturers can affix the CE marking to the products without the EU Type Examination certificate, by their own declaration, after the Category I products have fulfilled the requirements of the regulation while placing them on the market.

For Category II and Category III products, it is required to obtain service from “Notified Bodies” authorized in this field and to obtain EU Type examination certificate.

According to the features of the product, CE certification processes differ on a modular basis. For example, for Category II products, manufacturers can affix a CE label with their own declaration only after obtaining a Module B Type Examination Certificate from notified bodies. For Category III PPE, in addition to this certificate, a Module C2 or Module D certificate, which shows the suitability of mass production, must be obtained. The CE mark containing the Notified Body number can be affixed to the products that meet these requirements and can be placed on the market.

The “CE” mark must have a minimum dimension of 5 mm. “CE Marking Regulation” should be taken into account in marking.

TS EN ISO 21420:2020 Glove General Features

The TS EN ISO 21420 standard scopes the general requirements for glove design, construction, harmlessness, comfort and effectiveness, the relevant test procedures, and the information and marking provided by the manufacturer applicable to all protective gloves.

This standard is not used alone, it is used together with other standards according to the relevant protection feature.

How Should Glove Design and Structure Be?

The glove should provide protection while at the same time allowing the wearer to continue normal activity and be designed to minimize donning time.

For multi-layer gloves, the gloves should be removable without separating the layers of the fingers and the seams, if any, should not cause discomfort to the wearer. It should reduce sweat absorption as much as possible and, where applicable, should have water vapor absorption for a leather glove.

How to Determine the Harmlessness of Gloves?

Materials must not contain substances known to be toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, allergenic, toxic to reproduction, corrosive, sensitizing or irritating, and attention must be paid to the chemical identity of Plasticizers, unreacted components, heavy metals, pigments and dyes.

EN ISO 21240 According to 4.2; pH, Chromium VI value of gloves containing leather, nickel release of metallic materials that may come into contact with the skin, amount of dimethylformamide in gloves containing polyurethane, amount of carcinogenic aromatic amines in dyed leather and textile products, amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon for rubber or plastic materials are important.

The most commonly used standard list for hand and arm protective equipment is as follows.

As SZUTEST, we operate as a Notified Body accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency and authorized by the European Commission within the scope of 2016/425/EU Personal Protective Equipment Regulation. For more detailed information about the certification processes of your products, you can contact our experts at info@szutest.com.tr.

Personal Protective Equipment Unit Technical Specialist

Derya Akın Çolak