Hand injuries are the most common types of injuries in the workplace. For this purpose, it’s important that workers use proper measures to keep themselves safe from any harmful injuries that can become a hurdle in their work-life and may even end up in permanent damage. For this reason, cut-resistant leather gloves have been manufactured and mandated for factory use.
But even so, a lot of jobs require different kinds of cut-resistant gloves designed with different builds and materials. In this blog, we’ll discuss everything about cut-resistant leather gloves, their types, different cut levels, and their features.
Glove Material
Cut-resistant gloves are mostly used in the food processing industry, factories where workers are required to perform tasks with sharp objects, automotive industry, warehouse work, metalwork, metal stamping, etc. In such cases, it’s not just important to wear cut-resistant gloves, but also wear the right material. Following are the materials of different types of cut-resistant gloves for different work requirements.
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Leather
The most preferred type of cut-resistant material, leather, is puncture-proof and offers high abrasion, making them ideal for protection against heat and sparks.
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Kevlar
Chosen for high protection, Kevlar is more suitable for the automobile sector and industries with high-flame environments, etc.
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Metal-Mesh
Ideal for the meat and poultry industry, metal mesh is designed to be self-adjusting with high durability.
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Chain-Mail
Made of metal mesh and utilized in the food industry, they’re useful against sharp objects like knives, etc.
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Spectra
Provide superior to max protection against sharp objects while slicing, chopping, dicing food products in environments with high moisture.
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Knit
They’re best to use for handling light materials and appliances, etc. They provide safety from contaminants, etc.
Different Kinds of Leather
- Goatskin: This glove contains lanolin, making it waterproof, supple, and resistant to abrasion. A good choice when dexterity is a requirement.
- Pigskin: More breathable than any other kind of leather glove, this kind of leather can resist water and dryness without becoming stiff.
- Cowhide: The most common leather used in every industry for gloves, it’s affordable, comfortable, and provides proper abrasion protection.
- Deerskin: A warm and supple kind of leather that’s more comfortable and flexible than cowhide leather.
Common Misconceptions about Cut-Resistant Leather Gloves
- One of the most common myths about cut-resistant gloves is that they’re cut-proof, meaning you get an invincible amount of safety that can’t be compromised. That’s not true. You can still get your hand cut even if you’re wearing the appropriate gloves, depending on how carefully you work with sharp objects.
- Another common belief is that the more layers of gloves, the more you’re protected against harm and injury. This, again, is a misconception as even though this may seem like a good solution, it will end up in discomfort, and you will feel more rigid in movement if the layers of your gloves increase.
- Many people believe that cut-resistant levels of gloves reduce after they’re washed. This, again, is simply not true. In fact, a few washes can rather end up increasing the gloves’ quality as they become more flexible in their properties.
Different Features of Cut-Resistant Leather Gloves
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Safety
The best feature of cut-resistant leather gloves is that they help avoid serious, life-threatening injuries by either entirely eliminating their possibility or by lessening the blow by providing maximum protection.
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Washability
The gloves can be washed with ease in the machine and cleaned up without compromising on their quality.
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Multipurpose
Cut-resistant gloves aren’t just useful in factories but in many different areas and departments such as fishing, slicing, carpentry, etc.
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User-friendly
These gloves are lightweight, snug, and fit properly according to the size you ordered, and that makes them comfortable and user-friendly.
All About Different Cut-Levels & Their Protection
Although cut-resistant leather gloves can’t be entirely cut-proof, there are different levels of resistance that provide different levels of protection depending on the glove you’re using and the tasks you’re performing with them.
There are different standards used to measure the levels of cut-resistance for gloves but here, we’ll discuss only the two most common of them i.e. the ANSI levels which is the American National Standards Institute/International Safety Equipment Association and the EN388 cut-resistant levels which are commonly followed in the European Union countries, Australia, South America and Canada.
ANSI Cut-Level Standards
This is considered to be the supplement standard followed more commonly around the globe. It has 9 different levels. These levels indicate the grams of cutting load a glove can tolerate.
- ANSI Cut-Level 1 = 200-499 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 2 = 500-999 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 3 = 1000-1499 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 4 = 1500-2199 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 5 = 2200 – 2999 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 6 = 3000 – 3999 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 7 = 4000 – 4999 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 8 = 5000 – 5999 grams
- ANSI Cut-Level 9 = 6000+ grams
EN388 Cut-Resistance
The European standard uses two different tests. One is TDM-100 (the same test as ANSI), and the other is the coup test. The levels of TDM-100 are the following:
- A: 2 – 4.9 newtons (204 – 508 grams)
- B: 5 – 9.9 newtons (509 – 1019 grams)
- C: 10 – 14.9 newtons (1020 – 1529 grams)
- D: 15 – 21.9 newtons (1530 – 2242 grams)
- E: 22 – 29.9 newtons (2243 – 3058 grams)
- F: 30+ newtons (3059+ grams)
The coup test results are more complicated, where a glove is assigned a rating from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest. The glove’s cut index is a ratio compared with the glove’s cut resistance to the resistance level of cotton fabric. A lot of times, the coup test measurement can be wrong for many objects such as glass, etc. Therefore, TDM-100 is the preferred measurement scale used for determining the cut-resistance of gloves.
Which Level Do You Need in Your Work?
ANSI Level 5 and above and its EN388 Equivalents
High ANSI glove ratings are most appropriate for industries and tasks as:
- Rigging
- Rescue
- Mining
- Construction
- Ironwork
- Anything with high risks of cuts and lacerations
ANSI Levels 3 to 5 and its EN388 Equivalents
The medium levels of cut-resistant leather gloves come in handy during tasks as:
- Electrical work
- Gardening
- Home maintenance
- Salvage yards
ANSI Levels 1 to 3 and its EN388 Equivalents
The low levels of cut resistance are useful in:
- Food industry and catering jobs
- Glass artistry
- Minor electric work
- Minor sheet metal work
These were all the basics you needed to know about cut-resistant leather gloves and different materials of gloves that you can use, as well as their resistance levels in different countries and functions. If you have any further questions regarding this, you can visit Sialkot Safety Wear Pvt Ltd. for more.