Protective gloves

1. General description of the subcategory, introduction.
Thanks to growing awareness of the use of personal protective equipment, professional gloves have become part of the basic equipment of employees in many industries. The choice of professional gloves should depend on the type of work performed and any risks associated with it.
2. Protective gloves – what are they used for and in which industries are they used?
As the name suggests, protective gloves are part of an employee's equipment used to protect the hands from harmful external factors present in the workplace.
In addition to protecting the employee's hands, gloves also serve to facilitate work thanks to their special properties, e.g. the texture of the gloves makes it easier to grip objects with smooth or slippery surfaces.
Protective gloves are used in manufacturing and service industries where manipulation activities are an important part of the job, such as: beauty and hairdressing services, cleaning and maintenance, repairs and servicing, food production, the chemical industry, the mining industry, the automotive industry, catering and the hotel industry.
3. Disposable protective gloves – what types are there?
Disposable protective gloves can be divided according to the material from which they are made.
3a. Nitrile gloves
Nitrile is currently one of the most popular synthetic materials used in the production of protective gloves. Thanks to its properties, the material can be used to produce very thin gloves that allow for extremely precise manual tasks to be performed, while maintaining tear resistance in accordance with the relevant guidelines set out in the applicable product standards. In addition to very thin gloves, nitrile is also used to make thicker gloves, whose properties are appreciated by users in industrial sectors where work is performed for several hours. In such intensive use, safety and comfort at work are of paramount importance.
An important advantage of nitrile gloves is that they can be produced in many unique colours. Blue gloves are among the most popular, but users are increasingly choosing colours such as orange, green, pink and black.*
*Based on internal sales data for the period 10.2023 - 10.2024
3b. Vinyl gloves
Vinyl is a material used in the production of gloves that are used for work that does not require particularly high resistance. The main purpose of vinyl gloves is to protect against dirt in both dry and wet working environments. However, it is worth noting that the exceptionally smooth surface of vinyl gloves may find its supporters among hairdressers or stylists and in food processing.. Vinyl gloves are most often found in white/cream and transparent colours, and much less often in black or blue..
3c. Latex gloves
Latex is a material that has been used in the production of protective gloves since the beginning of the history of disposable gloves. The properties of latex allow for the production of extremely durable and flexible gloves, which are ideal for industries that require comfortable working conditions.
Latex gloves are most often produced in white/cream colours due to the natural colour of the raw material.
When discussing latex gloves, it is important to mention the risk of contact allergy resulting from exposure to allergenic latex proteins. Some users of latex gloves may complain of irritation and itching resulting from direct contact with this allergen. In this situation, latex gloves should be replaced with synthetic gloves – nitrile or vinyl.. However, it is important to use common sense – world-class manufacturers ensure that latex gloves are made from high-quality raw materials with a low latex protein content, thus reducing the risk of allergic reactions. People with skin prone to irritation should also avoid gloves that use a powdering agent, which is a carrier of allergenic latex proteins.
4. Nitrile, vinyl or latex protective gloves – which ones to choose?
Protective gloves should be chosen primarily according to their intended use (as specified by the manufacturer). A glove used during cosmetic procedures will certainly not be suitable for use in the automotive industry. Knowing and understanding the parameters of the products makes it easier to choose the right gloves for a given industry.
Disposable protective gloves as personal protective equipment (PPE) can be classified into one of three categories, depending on the type of hazards they are designed to protect the user from
- Category I – gloves in this category protect the user only against minimal hazards, i.e. low-risk external factors (physical dirt, contact with weaker cleaning agents or prolonged contact with water)
- Category II – includes gloves that protect the user against hazards other than those listed in categories I and III; this category includes, among others, work gloves that protect against mechanical injuries
- Category III – gloves in this category protect the user against hazards that can have very serious consequences, such as irreversible damage to health, e.g. protection against chemicals.
Within the protective gloves classified as personal protective equipment in category III (providing the highest level of protection), there are three levels (types) of chemical protection, marked with the letter codes A, B and C, respectively, where type A means the highest level of protection, type B means medium protection, and type C means the lowest level of protection.
A glove achieves level A penetration resistance when, for at least 30 minutes, the glove material remains resistant to at least 6 chemicals (from the list of 18 substances specified in EN ISO 374-1:2016).
A glove achieves level B penetration resistance when, for at least 30 minutes, the material remains resistant to at least 3 chemicals (from the list of 18 substances specified in EN ISO 374-1:2016).
A glove achieves level C penetration resistance when, for at least 10 minutes, the glove material remains resistant to 1 chemical substance (from the list of 18 substances specified in EN ISO 374-1:2016).
Knowledge of these standards will be particularly important for users in the industrial sector (e.g. automotive, chemical and processing industries) and the service sector (e.g. maintenance and repair, regeneration, cleaning), who need disposable gloves with a high level of chemical protection for safe work. For those working in food processing, an important symbol that should appear on the glove packaging is the ‘glass and fork’, which is the standard symbol for all products intended to come into contact with food.
Knowledge of the standards and markings on the packaging of protective gloves allows you to choose the right hand protection for the task at hand, while maintaining safety and comfort at work.