Hand Safety First™ · Reference Card
Hand Safety
Standards Reference 2026
The key international and regional standards governing hand protection PPE, machinery guarding, isolation procedures, and occupational exposure control — cited in the Global Hand Safety Report 2026.
Extracted from
Global Hand Safety Report 2026
Glove & Hand Protection PPE Standards
Specifying the right glove starts with knowing the right standard
PPE
EU / UK
EN 388:2016+A1:2018
Protective gloves against mechanical risks
What it tests
Abrasion resistance, blade cut resistance (Coup test and TDM-100 method), tear resistance, puncture resistance. Each is rated independently on a scale. A high cut score does not imply a high puncture score — both must be verified for tasks carrying both risks.
Use when specifying for
Sheet metal handling, blade operations, wire rope, rebar, steel strap, deburring, glass handling. The TDM-100 cut test (Level A–F) replaced the Coup test for cut performance — verify which method the glove was assessed under.
PPE
US
ANSI/ISEA 105-2024
American National Standard for Hand Protection Classification
What it tests
Classifies hand protection across multiple hazard categories: cut resistance (ANSI levels A1–A9), puncture resistance, abrasion, heat and flame, chemical permeation. Each category rated independently. Provides a unified US classification framework.
Use when specifying for
US operations where EN 388 is not the applicable standard. ANSI A1–A9 cut levels align broadly but not identically with EN 388 TDM-100 levels — direct comparison requires checking test force values.
PPE
US
ANSI/ISEA 138-2019
American National Standard for Performance and Classification of Impact-Resistant Gloves
What it tests
Evaluates the reduction in peak transmitted force at the back of the hand and fingers during a defined impact event. Rates gloves at Levels 1, 2, or 3 based on force attenuation. The primary dedicated industrial impact glove standard globally.
Use when specifying for
Lifting and rigging, pipe handling, structural steel connection, offshore deck operations, mining, heavy material handling — wherever residual struck-by or back-of-hand impact risk remains after engineering controls have been applied.
PPE
EU / UK
EN 407:2020
Protective gloves against thermal risks (heat and/or fire)
What it tests
Six independent thermal hazard categories: flammability, contact heat, convective heat, radiant heat, small molten metal splashes, large molten metal splashes — each rated 0–4. A rating in one category does not imply equivalent performance in another. Selection must match the specific thermal mechanism.
Use when specifying for
Steel production, hot-work environments, foundry operations, process maintenance on hot equipment, welding vicinity work. Verify which sub-categories are rated for the specific task.
PPE
EU / UK
EN ISO 374-1:2016+A1:2018
Protective gloves against dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms
What it tests
Penetration resistance, permeation breakthrough time, and degradation for specific chemical agents. Chemical agents are identified by letter code on the glove. Breakthrough time — how long before the chemical permeates the glove material — is the critical selection criterion.
Use when specifying for
Oil and gas process chemicals, drilling fluids, refinery operations, pickling and surface treatment in steel, laboratory and pharmaceutical handling. Generic "chemical glove" selection without substance-specific analysis is inadequate. Match glove material to substance and concentration.
PPE
International
ISO 10819:2013+Amd2:2021
Mechanical vibration — measurement and evaluation of transmissibility of anti-vibration gloves at the hand-arm system
What it tests
Transmissibility of vibration through the glove at the palm and finger positions. Anti-vibration gloves have defined performance limits that depend on vibration frequency, tool type, and grip force. Performance in the test may not translate to field conditions with different tools.
Use when specifying for
Grinding, chipping, and scaling in steel and mining; any task with verified high hand-arm vibration exposure. Anti-vibration gloves are a supplementary control — primary HAV control is vibration reduction at source, tool substitution, and exposure time management.
Machinery Safety & Guarding Standards
Engineering the hand out of the hazard zone
Machinery
International
ISO 12100:2010
Safety of machinery — General principles for design
What it covers
The foundational three-step risk reduction methodology for machinery: (1) inherently safe design, (2) safeguarding and protective measures, (3) information for use. PPE appears only at Step 3 — after design and guarding have been addressed. Underpins all machinery safety standards.
Use in
Machinery procurement, guarding specification, and risk assessment reviews. The Hand Safety First Exposure-Elimination Framework™ is grounded in this three-step hierarchy applied to hand exposure specifically.
Machinery
International
ISO 13857:2019
Safety distances to prevent hazard zones being reached by upper and lower limbs
What it covers
Defines minimum distances between the edge of a protective structure and the machinery hazard zone that prevent a hand or arm from reaching the hazard by reaching over, under, or around the guard. Provides tabulated safety distance data based on opening size and guard geometry.
Use in
Guard design and specification at conveyor nip points, press tools, roller systems, and any fixed or adjustable guard installation. Correct application at design stage removes the hand from the crush or nip zone without requiring behaviour change.
Machinery
International
ISO 14120:2015
Safety of machinery — Guards — General requirements for the design and construction of fixed and movable guards
What it covers
Design and construction requirements for fixed guards (permanently attached, removal requires tools) and movable guards (openable without tools, typically interlocked). Covers material requirements, attachment, and the conditions under which each guard type is appropriate.
Use in
New machinery installation, retrofitted guarding, and guard maintenance programmes. Defines when interlocked guards are required versus fixed guards, and the minimum construction standards each must meet.
Isolation, Permit-to-Work & Procedural Standards
Controlling hand exposure during non-routine and maintenance tasks
Procedure
US
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147
Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
What it covers
Requirements for controlling hazardous energy during servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment. Mandates energy control procedures, training, and periodic inspection. Lockout is preferred over tagout. One of the most frequently cited OSHA standards in machinery-related hand injury investigations.
Use in
All maintenance, jam clearing, die change, and non-routine access tasks on powered machinery in US operations. Non-routine tasks — not normal production — are where most machinery hand injuries occur.
Procedure
UK
PUWER 1998 / ACOP L22
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
What it covers
Requires that work equipment is suitable, maintained, and guarded to prevent contact with dangerous parts. Covers guarding of rotating machinery elements explicitly — HSE guidance notes that gloves worn near unguarded rotating parts can themselves initiate entanglement. Guarding is the required control, not PPE.
Use in
All UK machinery installations, guarding assessments, and glove policy decisions near rotating equipment. PUWER requires that dangerous machine parts are guarded — a finding that gloves are relied upon instead of guarding indicates a PUWER compliance gap.
Procedure
UK
LOLER 1998 / ACOP L113
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
What it covers
Requires that lifting operations are properly planned, supervised, and carried out safely by competent people. Lift plans must identify and control hand exposure during the lift — including the last-few-inches final positioning phase where hands are most commonly in the load path.
Use in
All UK lifting operations involving suspended loads, crane work, rigging, and material handling. The Hand Safety First Last-Inch Exposure Model™ addresses exactly the exposure profile that LOLER lift planning should control.
Regulatory Frameworks & Reporting Systems
What organisations are required to record and report
Regulatory
US
OSHA 29 CFR 1904
Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
What it covers
Defines OSHA-recordable injuries — those requiring medical treatment beyond first aid, involving lost time, restricted work, or transfer. Amputations and loss of an eye require separate notification. Finger amputations must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours under the Severe Injury Reporting programme.
Use in
US incident recording and TRIR/LTIFR calculation. Note: OSHA recordable status is a consequence threshold, not an exposure measure. Two injuries of very different severity generate identical TRIR contributions.
Regulatory
UK
RIDDOR 2013
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
What it covers
Requires reporting of specified injuries (including amputations and crush injuries requiring hospitalisation), over-7-day injuries, and dangerous occurrences. HSE's own analysis shows RIDDOR captures a minority of all workplace injuries workers report through the Labour Force Survey — the reporting gap is significant and documented.
Use in
UK incident reporting and regulatory compliance. RIDDOR data represents the severe-outcome fraction of the injury pyramid, not the full hand safety burden. Organisations should not treat RIDDOR compliance as evidence of a complete hand safety programme.
Regulatory
EU
Directive 2002/44/EC
Minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to vibration
What it covers
Defines the EU action value (2.5 m/s²) and limit value (5 m/s²) for hand-arm vibration exposure. Requires employers to assess exposure, implement controls where the action value is exceeded, and ensure the limit value is not exceeded. National legislation implements these values across member states.
Use in
EU construction, mining, steel, and any sector using vibrating hand tools. Primary controls: vibration reduction at source, low-vibration tool selection, and exposure time management. Anti-vibration gloves are a supplementary measure, not a primary control.
Framework
US / International
NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls
The five-level control hierarchy — the analytical backbone of all hand safety programme design
The five levels
1. Elimination — Remove the hazard entirely. The hand is never exposed.
2. Substitution — Replace the hazardous process, material, or equipment with a less hazardous one.
3. Engineering controls — Guards, isolation, mechanical handling, distance tools. Reduce or remove the hand's exposure without relying on behaviour.
4. Administrative controls — Safe systems of work, training, task rotation, permit-to-work. Reduce exposure through procedures and behaviour. Less reliable than engineering controls.
5. PPE — Gloves and hand protection for residual risk after all higher-order controls have been applied.
2. Substitution — Replace the hazardous process, material, or equipment with a less hazardous one.
3. Engineering controls — Guards, isolation, mechanical handling, distance tools. Reduce or remove the hand's exposure without relying on behaviour.
4. Administrative controls — Safe systems of work, training, task rotation, permit-to-work. Reduce exposure through procedures and behaviour. Less reliable than engineering controls.
5. PPE — Gloves and hand protection for residual risk after all higher-order controls have been applied.
The Hand Safety First position
Most industrial hand safety programmes begin at Level 5 — PPE — and proceed no further. This is not wrong; it is incomplete.
Gloves protect residual risk. They cannot address crush, nip-point entrapment, injection injuries, or the energy levels generated by industrial machinery — mechanisms that account for the most severe hand injury outcomes across every sector.
The Hand Safety First Exposure-Elimination Framework™ is grounded in this hierarchy. It provides the analytical method for working down the five levels systematically before reaching glove specification — and for ensuring that PPE is correctly matched to the residual risk that genuinely remains.
The full framework is published in Chapter 16 of the Global Hand Safety Report 2026.
Gloves protect residual risk. They cannot address crush, nip-point entrapment, injection injuries, or the energy levels generated by industrial machinery — mechanisms that account for the most severe hand injury outcomes across every sector.
The Hand Safety First Exposure-Elimination Framework™ is grounded in this hierarchy. It provides the analytical method for working down the five levels systematically before reaching glove specification — and for ensuring that PPE is correctly matched to the residual risk that genuinely remains.
The full framework is published in Chapter 16 of the Global Hand Safety Report 2026.
Global Hand Safety Report 2026 · Free
Every standard in context.
370+ pages of applied framework.
370+ pages of applied framework.
This reference card covers the standards. The Global Hand Safety Report 2026 covers how to apply them — across mechanism analysis, engineering controls, sector-specific hazard profiles, and a complete programme implementation framework.