The numbers that protect the most important digits

EN388, the standard covering gloves designed to protect against mechanical risks has changed. Gloves with the old test designation are only valid until April 2023, so it’s worth getting familiar with how to protect our precious fingers.

Why the standard is changing

The standards committee recognised that the existing cut test, known as the ‘coupe test’ was inadequate for certain gloves. Some glove manufacturers have added materials like fibreglass or steel to their products. While these materials are designed to protect against sharps, they may cause test machine blades to become blunt. With a blunt test blade, it’s not possible to reliably assess the level of protection the glove offers.

If blunting occurs, an additional test is now required. Known as the TDM or ISO 13997 cut test, the new test is more suitable for assessing the protection of highly cut-resistant materials. This test is also seen as being more representative of typical hazards.

The changes

In addition to the cut test changes, abrasion testing and how gloves are marked has been altered. Here’s a summary of the changes.

EN 388 Clause 6.1 – Resistance to abrasion

The specification of the glass paper used in the test has changed. Although a relatively minor change, the test scores of some gloves may change when assessed under the new method.

EN 388 Clause 6.2 – Blade cut resistance

This is the ‘coupe test’. It has been revised to limit the test cycles of the blade to 60. This is to prevent a dull blade resulting in a falsely high cut-resistance score. If during the 60 cycle test, the sample blunts the test blade by more than a factor of 3, the additional ISO 13997 test in clause 6.3 becomes mandatory.

EN 388 Clause 6.6 – Impact protection

This is an additional and optional test in the revised standard. It is only relevant where impact protection is claimed – usually for the knuckles or the back of the hand.

EN 388 Clause 7 – Marking

Two elements have been added. The ISO 13997 test and the optional impact protection test.

Understanding the numbers

With the optional inclusion of impact protection, the standard now scores gloves on up to 6 factors which are recorded in the following sequence:

Abrasion: Ranked from level 0 to 4 with 4 offering the highest protection

Coupe test: Ranked from level 0 to 5 with 5 offering the highest protection

Tear: Ranked from level 0 to 4 with 4 offering the highest protection

Puncture: Ranked from level 0 to 4 with 4 offering the highest protection

TDM: Ratings run from A through to F with F offering the highest level of cut resistance

Impact resistance: Applies only to gloves designed to offer such protection with a simple Pass (P) Fail (F) or not-applicable (X) rating.

Note that when either the coupe or TDM test is deemed unnecessary, an X will be shown in the results at the relevant place in the sequence. For example, a code might read: 3X44FP.

How it looks

Click here to view an example which shows how the scores of 3 example gloves would look.

Need help?

We want you to have the right protection. If you’d like our help understanding the standard or want more information about our range of gloves, just get in touch.