Q: Do arc-rated gloves use HRC/ARC level codes, or is that reserved for garments?
Should we have HRC/ARC labels on gloves? I lost track of how official the glove standard is.
A: The glove standard ASTM F2675-13 is official.
But there is no official statement on gloves receiving or not receiving HRC/ARC levels. The term “HRC” is removed in NFPA 70E-2015 and replaced with PPE level which we call the ARC, or Arc-Rated Category.
Gloves are mentioned in the ARC Tables, but it is not required that they or anything be labeled HRC/ARC. The ASTM standard is only a test method and has no labeling requirements.
Since the tables include HRC/ARC 3 and 4, those are certainly appropriate to label. The ARC Levels have minimum cal/cm² associated with them so the gloves could be labeled.
Remember, ARC gloves may not have any shock protection unless they are a protector [placed] over a rubber insulating glove or unless the rubber insulating glove is ARC labeled.
Another issue is how much protection the hands should have. The calculations are normally completed at an 18-inch working distance or more. If the hands are closer, one should likely use greater protection on the hands, but this has not been determined by NFPA 70E®. Some hand protection is better than nothing, and most of the arc-rated gloves on the market are better than a generic glove.
Consider This...
We recently saw a worker who was in ICU 5 days after an event from the arc flash ignition of a cotton/leather work glove operating a 480V device that failed. One thing to consider about the hands: they are the fastest thing to move when the brain decides something is wrong, so if the issue is caused by worker known error, the hands might be moving during the arc. You cannot out run them, but this might explain why we have so few glove ignitions of rubber insulating gloves.
ASTM F2675
We have announced the official standard ASTM F2675 glove arc rating standard a few times. It will likely be in version 2018 of NFPA 70E®. All the leather protectors we have tested work well in arc but will not pass the vertical flame test. ASTM F18 has begun a new non-leather protector standard which will include truly arc rated gloves. It will be interesting to see what that committee comes up with.
I’ve seen several glove companies sell arc rated gloves but they don’t identify the standard, for example, an 8 cal/cm² arc rated shirt would reference F1506. These glove companies are only selling them as “HRC 2”, a lightning bolt symbol with a “2” under it, or only identifying the “ATPV” with a number but no reference to the standard in which the glove was tested and rated to. Is this right? Do we just accept their arc ratings without knowing which standard they referenced when testing their products?