EN 388
Cut Standard
The European Commission’s (CE) EN 388 is a global organization that safety professionals can rely on to provide testing results for cut resistant gloves. The EN 388 standard continues with its 1-5 numerical rating for cuts that use the Coup test and adds an alpha-identifier (A-F) to align with and provide comparison to the ANSI 1-9 rating, using the ISO test.
EN CUT LEVELS DEFINED
4X43FP
The second number – cut-resistance, is based on the Coup test method. Materials that test beyond Level 3 or produce a false Coupe Test reading will receive an "X", and the TDM Test is introduced where a letter rating A - F is determined (Example 4X43FP). If the TDM Test isn't required, an "X" is used to state that there's no rating (Example 4243XP).
Coupe Cut Test
The second number – cut-resistance, is based on the Coup test method. Materials that test beyond Level 3 or produce a false Coupe Test reading will receive an "X", and the TDM Test is introduced where a letter rating A - F is determined (Example 4X43FP). If the TDM Test isn't required, an "X" is used to state that there's no rating (Example 4243XP).
TDM TEST
The TDM straight blade travels once across the test material and is only used once. TDM Test rates materials on a scale of A - F and uses an oscillating blade that measures the force necessary to cut through high-cut materials. Materials that test beyond Level 3 or produce a false Coupe Test reading will receive an "X", and the TDM Test is introduced where a letter rating A - F is determined (Example 4X43FP). If the TDM Test isn't required, an "X" is used to state that there's no rating (Example 4243XP).
ANSI Cut Level Defined
The ANSI cut-resistant gloves are displayed on the glove or tag using an “A” followed by a number, 1-9, such as A3 or A8. The ANSI/ISEA 105 and EN 388 are now synchronized by both organizations following the ISO 13997 standard using the Tomodynomometer machine (TDM 100) test. This allows for the end users to compare cut-resistant levels knowing the testing for each standard is the same.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT ANSI CUT LEVELS?
ANSI revised the cut scores from a 1-5 rating (up until 2016) to 1-9, the higher the number, the more cut-resistant the glove. For industries with high risk cut hazards, expanding the cut-level rating allows for greater accuracy in matching the glove to the identified hazard.
In 2016, International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and ANSI released an updated scale with nine levels of cut protection to measure performance. These levels indicate the grams of cutting load the gloves can bear from a sharp blade before penetrating.
