Guide to EN Glove Standards

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and Australian/New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS) help classify specific product attributes and communicate the quality and protection levels of personal protection equipment. The standards are designed to assist managers in the provision and maintenance of workplace safety levels.

The elimination of health and safety workplace hazards is mandated by government legislation. Where they cannot be eliminated, employers are responsible for reducing hazards to a minimum as is reasonably practical. As a result, they have implemented a number of identical standards to those used in Europe.

For example, standard EN420 (AS/NZS 2161.2:1998) - Occupational Protective Gloves, General Requirements - defines requirements for all protective gloves (except electrical and medical gloves) for glove construction, cleaning, comfort and efficiency, marking and information. While the majority of the Australian/New Zealand occupational glove standards are identical to the European standards, there are instances where the European standard has been revised, but the Australian/New Zealand standard has not been changed. This is why, for example, the protection against cold standard AS/NZS 2161.5:1998 is not the same as the European cold standard EN511:2006. The requirements are similar but the two standards use different testing methodologies.