The European Standard EN388 ensures that all safety gloves that are sold as protection against mechanical risks are tested.

Because of this legislation there are various different cut types and protection levels, here is a quick breakdown of what each glove has to offer:

Under the EN388 abrasion resistance test, samples of the safety glove material subjected to circular sweeps with a fixed head covered with a very abrasive material to see how many cycles it takes to rub through the material. To achieve the maximum rating of Cut 4, the material must withstand an average of 8000 cycles.

A glove’s blade resistance is tested by moving a circular rotating blade, under pressure from a standard weight, over the surface of samples of the material being tested. A maximum score of 5 is given for an average of 20 cycles.

A puncture cut is the result of a sudden impact from a pointed object, which may be a sharp but light object – such as a needle – or a sharp and heavy object, such as the jagged edge of a metal sheet. The material must be able to withstand a force of 150 Newtons to achieve the maximum score of Cut 4.

The fourth EN388 test measures the glove material’s resistance to tearing. It achieves this by clamping samples of the material in the jaws of a strength testing machine and moving them apart to see how much force is needed to tear it. This gives you another indication of the overall strength of the glove, as even the lowest tear resistance score of Cut 1 still means that it requires an average force of 10 Newtons to pull it apart.

As more and more businesses – roll out Cut 5 safety gloves as standard, we like to send you a sample of our latest cut 5 glove for you to try.

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