The logistics industry in Germany is the third-largest economic sector, after the automotive industry and trade. It is also the third-largest employer, after healthcare and trade, with over three million employees. These employees not only work in designated logistics companies, but also in the logistics processes of other industries, which is why logistics is also considered a cross-sectional industry. Half of the logistics services are intralogistics, while the other half consists of the transport of goods over land, air and water.
Most optimizations in logistics and intralogistics are implemented along the process chain and in the corresponding sub-processes. As a rule, these are increases in the degree of automation and the use of technological solutions. Nevertheless, human labor continues to play an immensely important role within individual processes. Just as with purely technical optimizations, the goal when using personal protective equipment is, on the one hand, to ensure the safety of employees and, on the other hand, to keep time losses to a minimum and to enable quick handling.
Protective gloves thus fulfill three functions:
- They protect the wearer’s hands from cuts, punctures, bruises or chemical burns at work.
- They enable safe gripping of parts, materials, inventory and packaging materials and safe handling in general.
- They also protect the goods themselves, as the gloves offer a correspondingly high sense of touch, a secure grip and, where appropriate, certain properties that prevent electrostatic charge, for example.
These functions are achieved by using the right materials and combining them with the appropriate processing techniques. Safety and protective gloves, for example, usually consist of a carrier material and a coating. Together, these determine the protective function, use and comfort. They also determine how robust and durable a glove is or what level of cut protection it offers.
While the base material, which consists of polyester, carbon fibers, stainless steel fibers or a special fiber composite, provides the actual cut protection in cut-resistant gloves, the different coatings determine the actual purpose. These usually include:
- Polyurethane: Polyurethane (PU) coatings are particularly sensitive and very elastic. This allows them to adapt to the movements of the hand. It is a microporous coating that is permeable to air and thus ensures ventilation of the glove. PU also does not react to cold or heat and is durable and long-lasting.
- Latex: A latex coating is characterized by the fact that it offers a very good grip even on damp and wet surfaces. This is because latex is insensitive to water and resistant to oils. In addition, latex is very flexible and resistant to mechanical impacts.
- Latex foam: Is even more elastic than latex.
- Nitrile: Nitrile coatings are impermeable to liquids and therefore ideal for protecting hands against chemicals, oil, grease and solvents. Nitrile also offers mechanical strength and high abrasion resistance.
- Nitrile foam: Nitrile foam coatings are particularly suitable for damp working environments and slightly oily surfaces, as they provide a secure grip. The open-pored structure dissipates heat and moisture to the outside and gives the glove both freedom of movement and a very good sense of touch.
- NFT nitrile: NFT stands for New Foam Technology and, in addition to the properties of nitrile or nitrile foam, is even lighter in weight and has improved heat transport out of the glove, so you sweat less.
- Micronitrile foam: Compared to nitrile foam, the coating is even thinner, offering improved comfort and an optimized fit.
Note:
This list provides a rough overview. The individual carrier materials and coatings are subject to continuous development, which means that new materials and material mixtures are constantly being created, some of which are patented and thus become established brands of various manufacturers.
Some coatings are also further optimized by certain processing techniques. For example, the so-called sandy surface or sandy finish, in which the finest sand particles are added, is very common. This gives an actually smooth coating a rough surface that provides more grip.
When it comes to protective gloves, standards and guidelines are essential for correct use. The standards for these are set by the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), which defines the relevant test procedures and general requirements to be applied to all protective gloves in the EN 420 standard. These include design principles, glove finishing, and the resistance of the glove material to water penetration, as well as harmlessness, comfort and performance, and the labeling and information to be provided by the manufacturer.
EN 388:2003 MECHANICAL RISKS
Abrasion resistance (0 – 4)
Cut resistance (0 – 5)
Tear resistance (0 – 4)
Puncture resistance (0 – 4)
EN 388:2016 MECHANICAL RISKS
Abrasion resistance (0 – 4)
Cut resistance (0 – 5)
Tear resistance (0 – 4)
Puncture resistance (0 – 4)
Cut resistance (A – F)
EN 511 COLD
Convective cold (0 – 4)
Contact cold (0 – 4)
Penetration
Water (0 – 1)
EN 407:2004
Protection against thermal risks (heat/fire)
EN 16350:2014
Electrostatic properties for protective gloves
Note:
There are two different test methods for cut protection, with different designations for the respective cut resistance. So you will still find the classification from 0-5 as well as – more and more widely – the classification from A-F. The higher the number or letter, the higher the cut protection.
Summary
Personal protective equipment (PPE) and, in particular, protective and safety gloves play a central role in both manual and highly automated intralogistics processes. Protective gloves fulfill three functions:
- They protect the hands of the wearer.
- They enable safe gripping of materials.
- They also protect the goods themselves.
Selecting the right materials and coatings is crucial for the functions of protective gloves. Various materials such as polyurethane, latex, nitrile and their variants are used. Standards and guidelines, such as EN 420 for general requirements for protective gloves, are essential for correct application. Cut resistance is particularly important and is evaluated differently depending on the standard.
To our overview article on personal protective equipment (PPE)