Our article on AR and FR gloves came out in the February-March 2019 edition of Incident Prevention.
In Specifying Arc-Rated and Flame-Resistant Gloves , Stacy Klausing and I discuss the different standards for shock and arc flash protection for gloves. We offer five steps to help you decide which gloves to buy for your employees:
- Use the proper standard and understand that standard’s focus and limitations
- Choose the levels of protection necessary for your work location
- Educate all your workers on which gloves are appropriate for the tasks they perform
- Take advantage of the new gloves on the market today. There are more choices than ever.
- “Stay ahead of the curve” by choosing gloves specific to the real hazard. Don’t settle for simplistic terms like “flame-resistant” or “self-extinguishing” when your hazards may be more defined.
I’m excited to know that leather protectors will finally have an arc rating. All we have now are footnotes in the two tables from NFPA 70E saying it “…satisfies the arc flash protection requirement.”. I ask why, what is the combo rated for and I can’t find an answer. This leaves us wondering if Class 00 (for 480V and under exposures) rubber insulating gloves (RIGs) with leather protectors are sufficient protection against arc flash hazards up to 40 cal/cm². I’d feel better with Class 4 but that’s not practical when working and manipulating small parts.
My question is, will there be testing on the RIGs also? How about combination RIGs & leather protectors? I’d like to know what the combo level of arc flash protection would be.
Overall I’m excited to know.