ANSI/ISEA 138 – The New Impact-Resistant Gloves Standard and What You Need to Know

Your hands are extremely important – they’re the most essential tool on the worksite but also susceptible to accidents and injuries. Safety standards and guidelines have been in place to help combat hand injuries but there has been a lack of performance-based standards and classification for impact protection in the North American market.

A study by the International Association of Drilling Contractors has shown that finger injuries account for a third of all injuries and about 20 percent of lost-time injuries. When including hand and wrist injuries, the amount of lost-time injuries combined by the three rise to 41 percent! Impact-related injuries can range from bruising, finger pinching, and bone breakage and fractures. And many industries, such as oil and gas, construction, mining, manufacturing, and transportation, need back-of-hand impact protection to prevent such injuries.

What is ANSI/ISEA 138? ANSI/ISEA 138 is the new standard for impact-resistant gloves, which was introduced earlier this year, and aims to help workers make a more informed decision on which glove to choose based on the level of impact protection the glove provides. The higher the number, the higher the protection level, which starts at 1 and goes up to 3. With this standard, gloves now undergo stringent testing in a third-party lab that must meet the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard. So when you’re buying your next ANSI/ISEA 138-tested Watson glove, you know with 100% confidence that the glove you choose is the right one for your job.

Click here to watch our webinar to learn more about the ANSI/ISEA 138 impact standard.

Impact Standards Infographic. Click for larger size.

Finding and choosing ANSI/ISEA 138-compliant gloves is now made easier than ever before. Search for the “impact resistant” category on the Home or Products page and select which level you need for your job. Now you can browse our selection of impact-resistant gloves right at your fingertips!

You can also find our gloves by clicking on the ANSI/ISEA 138 rating icons below.

We’re answering these new expectations and demands on greater back-of-hand protection by rolling out TPR (thermal plastic rubber) versions of your favourite industrial gloves. The latest to receive TPR protection is the Stealth series with 353, 357 and 360 getting the upgrade.

If you check out each of the three products, you can see they have a new ANSI/ISEA 138 icon with a rating of 2. All the gloves have heavy-duty TPR protection on the fingers, thumb, knuckles and the back of the hand to provide full dorsal metacarpal protection but also gives you the dexterity and comfort to perform your job without compromising performance. After all, in the work you do, the job’s got to get done – efficiently and safely.

The new TPR gloves still retains everything you love and know of the Stealth line. These seamless knit gloves offer second skin fit for maximum dexterity, while providing a varying range of cut and puncture protection (starting with an ANSI cut level of A2 and ANSI puncture level of 3 for 353TPR to an ANSI cut level of A7 and ANSI puncture level of 5 for 360TPR). We do our job ensuring hand injuries are reduced as much as possible so that you can do your job in taking care of business.