Understanding NEW EN 388 Mechanical Standards.

The past EN388:2003 testing procedure for gloves has been improved significantly to EN388:2016, but what do these changes really mean?

What is EN 388?

First, let’s briefly review the past EN 388:2003 standard which is a testing procedure designed to assess the mechanical performance of a fabric or layers of fabric against different mechanical hazards, including ability to resist heavy rubbing, cutting (COUP)by a blade or sharp object, tearing, and puncture by a pointed object.
This test procedure includes a separate test for each of these properties, and a performance level is awarded according to each test result. This is the old version of the standard against mechanical risks.

What is the new EN 388:2016?

The EN 388: 2016 Standard requires gloves to be scored on a scale of 1 to 5 for blade cut resistance and 1 to 4 for abrasion resistance, tear resistance and puncture resistance. The test results will vary according to the fibres, materials, stitching and coating used to make a particular glove.

All gloves which are tested for cut resistance using the coup blade method, which blunts the blade during the test, are also required to undergo additional testing using the EN ISO 13997 cut method. Currently there are 6 cut levels defined on the ISO cut method, ranging from A - F, and represent the minimum force required to cut the sample material at a measured length of 20mm. The result is measured in Newtons and grams. See image below.

Futher changes include:

  1. The EN 388:2016 standard uses a new type of abrasive paper compared to the EN 388:2003 standard. Due to this change, some abrasion levels of protective gloves may change when tested to the new standard.
  2. Designed to keep pace with the development of cut resistant fibres, EN 388:2016 addresses flaws in the EN 388:2003 cut test methodology.
  3. When a protective glove has been approved for CE marking to the EN388 standard, these test levels are quoted as four numbers below the EN388 pictogram, the numbers are always shown in the order in which the tests are described. The revised 2016 version adds an additional letter at the end of the EN388 number designation, that more precisely defines Cut Resistance in Newton units.
EN388

Remember, there are still many protective gloves on the market labelled according to the old version of this standard. These are as good to use as the new marked gloves.
It is also important to understand that it is not the glove’s performances that has changed. It is the way of testing the performances that has changed!

EN 388 Mechanical Standards

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