Glove Legislation - The legal responsibilities
Under government legislation it is an employer’s legal responsibility to assess the need for personal protective equipment in their working environment and where required, provide the necessary hand protection free of charge to the workforce.
When selecting products it is important to look for the relevant Standards testing information. European standards are widely accepted around the world, and have been developed to ensure the critical product performance attributes are benchmarked and communicated. Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand have adopted most of these as per AS/NZS 2161:2005.
These set the standards for personal protective equipment and define categories of equipment according to the level of protection under three main classifications:
- CE Simple (minimal risk)
- CE Intermediate (areas of specific risk)
- CE Complex (risk of serious or mortal danger)
Hand Protection must be:
- Appropriate for the risk
- Capable of fitting correctly
- Comfortable to wear
- CE marked where applicable
The employer must also provide training to the employee on how, when and what protective equipment must be worn.
The right glove for the right hazard.
All KLEENGUARD* Gloves are CE certified, and meet Australian and New Zealand standards and the European PPE 89/686/EEC Framework Directive definitions.
Chemical Hazard
The AS/NZS 2161.10:2005 has adopted the EN374 standard for protective gloves against chemical splash, immersion and chemical permeation. The standard is awarded by permeation testing a glove against twelve key chemicals; the first symbol indicates a pass (level 2 or above) on at least three of those chemicals. The
Low Chemical resistant or Waterproof glove pictogram is to be used for those gloves that do not achieve level 2 against three or more of chemicals from the list of twelve, yet still comply with the penetration test.
Mechanical Hazard
The AS/NZS 2161.3:2005 has adopted the EN 388 standard for protective gloves against mechanical hazards is defined by four categories, each of which determines performance levels for each of the tests as follows:
(a) Abrasion resistance (0 to 4)
(b) Blade cut resistance (0 to 5)
(c) Tear resistance (0 to 4)
(d) Puncture resistance (0 to 4)
View the KLEENGUARD* Glove range
