Hand Protection — Choosing the Right Safety Gloves for Trade Work (2026)

Why Hand Protection Matters — and the Legal Duty

Hand and finger injuries account for a large share of the accidents reported to the HSE every year. They range from minor cuts that lose an hour to deep lacerations, crushed or amputated fingers, and slow-burning conditions like occupational dermatitis that can end a tradesperson's career. For a business, an injured worker means lost productivity, a possible RIDDOR report, higher insurance premiums and, in the worst cases, an HSE investigation or prosecution.

As an employer you have a clear legal duty. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 — amended in 2022 to extend duties to so-called "limb (b)" workers, which sweeps in many casual, agency and gig workers as well as direct employees — require you to provide suitable PPE free of charge where a risk to health cannot be adequately controlled by other means. PPE is the last line of defence, not the first: you must first try to control the risk at source through the hierarchy of control (eliminate, substitute, engineering and administrative controls), and only then supply gloves for the residual risk.

Where the hazard involves chemicals, solvents, cements, resins or anything that can harm the skin, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) also apply. COSHH requires a written assessment of each hazardous substance and the selection of gloves that actually resist that specific substance — not just any glove. You must assess the risk, choose suitable protection, provide it at no cost to the worker, and make sure it is used, maintained and replaced.

Glove Types Matched to Hazards

The single most common mistake is treating gloves as one category. A glove that stops a Stanley blade may offer no protection at all against a solvent, and a chemical glove may shred on a sharp edge. Match the glove to the actual hazard of the task. The table below maps the main glove types to what they protect against and what to use them for.

Note the limitation that catches people out: a high cut-rating glove is often coated nitrile or PU on the palm only, which gives splash resistance but is not a chemical glove. If a task involves prolonged immersion or significant chemical contact, you need a glove certified to EN ISO 374 for that substance — check the manufacturer's permeation data, because resistance varies enormously between chemicals.

How to Read the EN 388 Marking

EN 388:2016 is the European standard for gloves protecting against mechanical risks, and its shield pictogram carries a four- or five-character code that tells you exactly what the glove resists. Learn to read it and you can compare gloves on the shelf instead of trusting marketing claims.

• 1st digit — abrasion resistance (0–4): how well the glove resists rubbing wear. 4 is the highest.
• 2nd digit — blade cut resistance (1–5, "Coupe" test): the older rotating-blade test. An "X" here means the test was not applicable, usually because the blade blunted.
• 3rd digit — tear resistance (0–4): resistance to the glove material tearing.
• 4th digit — puncture resistance (0–4): resistance to being pierced by a blunt point such as a probe.
• 5th character — ISO 13997 cut level (A–F): the TDM test, added in the 2016 revision. It uses a fresh blade and a measured force, so it is far more reliable for high cut-resistant gloves than the old Coupe digit. A is the lowest, F is the highest.
• 6th character — impact protection (P): a "P" appears only if the glove passed the EN 13594 impact test for back-of-hand protection. No letter means no impact rating was claimed.

In practice, for blade-heavy work you should be reading the A–F TDM level, not the 1–5 Coupe digit — many modern cut gloves show an "X" for Coupe precisely because they are so cut-resistant they blunt the test blade. For demolition and groundworks, look for the "P" that confirms back-of-hand impact protection.

Matching the Glove to the Task

The right glove is task-specific. Before you buy, ask what the actual hazard is: is it cutting, crushing, chemical contact, heat, vibration, or a combination? A glazier needs a high TDM cut level. A groundworker needs cut plus impact. A plumber using solvent cement needs chemical resistance for that solvent. An electrician working live needs voltage-rated insulating gloves to EN 60903, inspected and in-date — nothing else will do.

Resist the temptation to standardise on one "does everything" glove. A single general-purpose glove that is mediocre at every hazard leaves workers under-protected on the high-risk tasks and over-gloved (and therefore clumsy) on the simple ones. It is cheaper and safer to stock two or three appropriate types than to issue one compromise glove to everyone.

Fit, Dexterity and the Glove Workers Will Actually Wear

The best glove is the one your team will keep on. Gloves that are too bulky, too stiff or the wrong size get pushed off for fiddly work — and an unworn glove protects nobody. Dexterity matters: a thin, well-fitting cut glove that lets a worker handle fixings will be worn all day, whereas a heavy gauntlet that makes the same task impossible will end up in a pocket.

Buy a range of sizes and let people try them. A glove that is too small causes hand fatigue and tears at the seams; one that is too large bunches up and snags. Modern 15- and 18-gauge liners give surprisingly high cut protection with near-bare-hand feel, which is exactly the kind of glove that solves the "I had to take them off" problem.

When NOT to Wear Gloves

Gloves are not always the safe choice. Around rotating machinery — pillar drills, bench grinders, lathes, hand drills and any spinning bit or chuck — a glove can be caught and drag the hand into the machine, turning a near-miss into an amputation. For these tasks the correct control is no gloves, plus guarding and good technique. Make this explicit in your risk assessments and toolbox talks, because the instinct to "always wear gloves" can be dangerous in the wrong context.

Inspection, Replacement and Storage

Gloves are consumables, not permanent equipment. Damaged, worn-through or contaminated gloves lose their protective rating — a cut glove with a worn palm coating no longer performs to its label. Build a simple routine: workers inspect gloves before each use for holes, tears, thinning and chemical degradation, and bin anything past its best.

• Check for holes, splits, worn coatings and stiffness from chemical or heat damage before each use.
• Replace cut and impact gloves once the palm coating is worn through — the rating no longer applies.
• Store gloves clean and dry, away from sunlight, solvents and heat, which degrade the material over time.
• Insulating electrical gloves to EN 60903 need formal periodic inspection and re-testing, and must be kept in a protective bag — treat them as test equipment, not general PPE.
• Never reuse single-use disposable nitrile gloves once they are contaminated or torn.

Skin Health, Dermatitis and Liners

Occupational dermatitis is one of the most common and most under-reported trade health problems, driven by wet work, cement (alkaline and a known sensitiser), solvents, oils and resins. Gloves are part of the answer, but they cut both ways: sweating inside an impermeable glove for hours can itself irritate the skin. Cotton or moisture-wicking glove liners worn under chemical or waterproof gloves keep hands drier and more comfortable, which also means the gloves stay on.

Combine glove use with a skin-care regime — pre-work barrier creams, washing with mild cleansers rather than solvents, and after-work moisturisers — and encourage workers to report early signs of redness, cracking or itching. Catching dermatitis early is far cheaper than dealing with a sensitised worker who can no longer handle cement.

Training and Record-Keeping

Supplying gloves is not the end of the duty — you have to make sure they are used correctly. Workers need to know which glove to wear for which task, how to inspect and store them, when to replace them, and the situations where gloves must not be worn. Cover this in induction and reinforce it in toolbox talks, especially when a new material or chemical comes onto site.

Keep records: the PPE risk assessment, the COSHH assessments that drive your chemical-glove choices, what was issued to whom and when, and any training delivered. Good record-keeping demonstrates compliance if the HSE ever asks, supports an insurance claim, and helps you see when stock and re-issue are due. Logging PPE issue and renewal dates against each worker — alongside your job and certification records — turns a paperwork chore into a quick check rather than a scramble.

Quick Reference: Choosing Gloves by Hazard