Your hands are vulnerable. Good protective gloves are therefore of great importance to protect your employees against chemical substances.
The chemical glove that protects you against every chemical, that is flexible and comfortable is, unfortunately, not yet available.
But how do you choose the right chemical gloves?
It can be difficult to know which glove you need for a particular application or chemical.
If you follow these 4 steps, this process becomes a lot easier!
Step 1: Look around at your environment and assess the possible risks
Primary hazards
Start by looking at the working environment and the risks to your employees.
What substances or products would they come into contact with in the event of leakage, splashes or other accidents?
How often will they come into contact with the chemical?
Above all, it is important that you always match a glove to a specific task and do not use it for other applications.
Every glove and every application is different.
The most common factors that influence your choice are:
Which chemicals you use (acids, bases, solvents, etc.)
The concentration and toxicity of the chemical.
How long and how often you will come into contact with the chemical.
In what way your employees come into contact with a chemical (splashes, blasting, dipping, etc.).
The length of your glove.
Finger sensitivity, grip and comfort.
Size of the glove.
Step 2: choose the right material
Now that you know which substances your employees (could) come into contact with, including the risks, you can match this information to the best material for the gloves.
Glove materials have specific properties that make them very suitable for one particular working environment, but less so for another
Below you will find the most common materials and their most important properties:
PVC
Latex
Nitrile
Neoprene
Butyl
Viton
Step 3: protection and comfort
Now that you know the advantages and disadvantages of the most common materials,
you should already have a good idea of which type of glove you need.
In this step, we will look in greater depth at the levels of protection and comfort.
Performance
Each glove manufacturer has a permeation table, which you can use to make a link between tested chemicals (using the CAS number) and their gloves and/or coatings.
In this table you will find three important things that are extensively tested for the EN 374 safety standard:
Breakthrough time
Protection index from 1 tot 6
Degradation (expressed as percentage)
EN 374:2016
A chemical resistant glove must comply with the EN 374 standard. Some things have changed since 2016. Including the following:
Under the official icon, you will find the code letters of the test substances that range from A to T:
The different types are subdivided as follows:
Type A: Protective glove with a permeation resistance of at least 30 minutes for a minimum of 6 test substances.
Type B: Protective glove with a permeation resistance of at least 30 minutes for a minimum of 3 test substances.
Type C: Protective glove with a permeation resistance of at least 10 minutes for a minimum of 1 test substance.
Tip: Don't use the data of one manufacturer to choose a glove from another manufacturer.
Step 4: choose the right size
Last but not least: what size should you buy? Too small a size will not allow you to move efficiently, your glove will also wear out faster.
If the size is too large, there is a chance that the glove will fail. Common sizes vary from size 5 to 12.
For the correct size, measure the circumference and length of your hand.
Lay a tape measure across your knuckles.
Turn your palm so you see your hand and ensure the tape is across the palm.
Cross the tape measure so you can see the outline of your palm.
Check the table to see which size fits your circumference.   
Conclusie
Have you completed all the steps? Great!
Now you have a summary of all the potential risks, you know the properties of the most commonly used materials and their comfort-enhancing characteristics.
You're all set to choose the correct chemical gloves!
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