National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 21420:2020+A1:2024. It is identical to ISO 21420:2020, incorporating amendment 1:2022. It supersedes BS EN ISO 21420:2020, which is withdrawn.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags. Tags indicating changes to ISO text carry the number of the ISO amendment. For example, text altered by ISO amendment 1 is indicated by .

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PH/3, Protective clothing.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication has been prepared under a mandate given to the European Standards Organizations by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association. It is intended to support requirements of the EU legislation detailed in the European Foreword. A European Annex, usually Annex ZA or ZZ, describes how this publication relates to that EU legislation.

For the Great Britain market (England, Scotland and Wales), if UK Government has designated this publication for conformity with UKCA marking (or similar) legislation, it may contain an additional National Annex. Where such a National Annex exists, it shows the correlation between this publication and the relevant UK legislation. If there is no National Annex of this kind, the relevant Annex ZA or ZZ in the body of the European text will indicate the relationship to UK regulation applicable in Great Britain. References to EU legislation may need to be read in accordance with the UK designation and the applicable UK law. Further information on designated standards can be found at www.bsigroup.com/standardsandregulation.

For the Northern Ireland market, UK law will continue to implement relevant EU law subject to periodic confirmation. Therefore Annex ZA/ZZ in the European text, and references to EU legislation, are still valid for this market.

UK Government is responsible for legislation. For information on legislation and policies relating to that legislation, consult the relevant pages of www.gov.uk.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

ISO 21420 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 94, Personal safety — Protective clothing and personal protective equipment, Subcommittee SC 13, Protective clothing, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 162, Protective clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

This document is a reference standard to be referred to as appropriate by the specific standards relevant or applicable to protective gloves.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 24 September 2019.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 21420:2020) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 94 "Personal safety -- Personal protective equipment" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 162 “Protective clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets” the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by September 2020, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by September 2020.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN 420:2003+A1:2009.

This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EU Directive(s).

For the relationship with EU Directive(s) see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 21420:2020 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 21420:2020 without any modification.

European foreword to Amendment 1

This document (EN ISO 21420:2020/A1:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 94 "Personal safety -- Personal protective equipment" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 162 “Protective clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets” the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This Amendment to the European Standard EN ISO 21420:2020 shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2025, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by January 2025.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its Member States.

For the relationship with EU Legislation, see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 21420:2020/Amd 1:2022 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 21420:2020/A1:2024 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document specifies the general requirements and relevant test procedures for glove design and construction, innocuousness, comfort and efficiency, as well as the marking and information supplied by the manufacturer applicable to all protective gloves.

It can also apply to arm protectors and gloves permanently incorporated in containment enclosures.

Gloves and hand protectors such as mittens, pot holders and arm protection are covered by this document.

This document does not address the protective properties of gloves and therefore is not used alone but only in combination with the appropriate specific standard(s). A non-exhaustive list of these standards is given in the Bibliography.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 General requirements

4.1 Glove design and construction — General

4.2 Innocuousness of protective gloves

4.3 Cleaning

4.4 Additional properties

5 Comfort and efficiency

5.1 Sizing and measurement of gloves

5.2 Dexterity

5.3 Breathability and comfort

6 Test procedures

6.1 Measurement of glove length

6.2 Test method for determining gloved finger dexterity

6.3 Test method for determination of water vapour behaviour

6.4 Test method for the determination of water vapour absorption of leather materials

6.5 Test report

7 Marking and information

7.1 General

7.2 Marking

7.3 Information supplied by the manufacturer

7.4 Information to be supplied on request

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 21420:2020+A1:2024

Protective gloves. General requirements and test methods

Current

Published:

31 Jul 2024