The NEW ANSI/ISEA 138-2019 Impact Resistant Glove Standard

What Construction Workers Need to Know

By Taniya Dudani, Contributor

Among other hazards, the risk of impact injury is exceedingly high in extreme work environments including oil and gas, demolition, and heavy-duty construction. Workers may be exposed to crush and pinch impacts daily, making it crucial to have high-performance hand protection, especially for the knuckles, fingers, and thumbs.

The NEW ANSI/ISEA 138-2019 Impact Resistant Glove Standard was developed to better classify the impact resistance of gloves, making it easier than ever to choose the right impact glove for any application. The new standard considers the minimum performance, classification, and labeling requirements for material protecting the fingers and knuckles from impact.

Understanding ANSI/ISEA 138-2019 Testing

ANSI/ISEA 138-2019 outlines three levels of impact protection. Each level is determined by how effectively each glove can disperse impactful force applied during testing. This impactful force is created by dropping a 2.5-kilogram mass onto each glove with an impact energy of 5 joules. This process is repeated ten times on the fingers and eight times on the knuckles. The glove’s impact level will then be determined based on the Mean Transmitted Force (MTF) recorded.

It is important to note that the MTF of the finger region is treated separately from that of the knuckle region, so the lower mean transmitted force of the two regions will be used to classify the glove’s impact resistance as a whole.

Performance Level Classification

The MTF is measured in kilonewtons which means the lower the kilonewton measurement, the better the glove is at dispersing the impact energy along the surface of the protective material. This helps to prevent the impact energy from transmitting directly to the hand and results in a higher level of impact protection.

Level 1 recordings provide a higher kilonewton measurement which results in lower impact protection. Conversely, a Level 3 performance rating results in a lower kilonewton of transmitted force to the hand, which results in better impact protection.

Image courtesy of Protective Industrial Products.

EN 388 vs ANSI/ISEA 138

Previous to ANSI/ISEA 138-2019, the EN 388 Standard was the only measurement of impact protection that could be referenced. The European standard impact test is based on the EN13594:2015 Standard for protective gloves for motorcycle riders. The test method is similar, but only tests the knuckle impact (excluding the fingers). The EN 388 Standard classifies impact protection with a letter representation: P represents Pass, F represents Fail, and X represents Not Tested. If the average transmitted force is less than or equal to 7kN, then the gloves will receive a Level 1 P Pass rating. If the average transmitted force is higher than 9kN, then the gloves will receive a Level 0 F Fail rating.

The new ANSI/ISEA 138-2019 standard breaks down this letter representation into a numerical range of mean transmitted forces. This allows different impact-resistant applications to precisely match up to the correct numerical value or level needed for the job.

Third-Party Testing

The ANSI/ISEA 138- 2019 standard shall be tested by independent IOS/IEC 17025 testing and calibration laboratories. This ensures all information is accurate and standardized. Before this, manufacturers had free reign on impact-resistant claims, leading to unjust injury.

The Need for Impact Protection

In high-risk environments such as transportation, oil and gas, demolition and heavy-duty construction, there is a greater need and desire for higher impact protection such as ANSI level 3. The current market has limited options of gloves that meet these requirements. The need for impact protection should never lead to a sacrifice of other required benefits such as dexterity, comfort, and longevity. The new ANSI/ISEA 138 testing standard makes it easier to trust and understand the protection workers are getting with available PPE. CS

Taniya Dudani is the Marketing Channel Manager, Industrial at Protective Industrial Products (PIP^®). PIP^® is a global PPE leader in worker safety with a diversified product line of 10,000+ products including head-to-toe protection for the Industrial, Construction, Welding, and Electrical Safety markets. PIP^®, along with its recognized industry-leading brands: G-Tek^®, Bouton^®, Ironcat^®, Assurance^®, Kut-Gard^®, CleanTeam^®, QRP^®, Ambi-Dex^®, Dynamic^®, NOVAX^®, Caiman,^® and Boss^®, are relied upon for personal protection by workers every day. Learn more at www.pipusa.com.