Rescue Glove Testing

Rescue and emergency glove inspection mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on mechanical hazard protection performance, thermal hazard protection performance, chemical protection performance, grip and dexterity, overall protection performance and durability, and biological hazard protection performance, objectively assessing the product quality grade and issuing a detailed test report, providing a basis for manufacturers' quality control and downstream users' product acceptance.

Testing Items

Mechanical hazard protection performance: Mainly evaluates the ability of the gloves to resist cutting, tearing, puncture and abrasion. The cut resistance testing simulates the cutting force of the sharp edges on the glove material; the tearing strength testing measures the ability of the material to resist the tearing propagation under an existing notch; and the puncture testing uses a standard probe to evaluate the ability of the material to resist the penetration of the sharp objects.

Thermal hazard protection performance: Including the contact heat resistance, convective heat and radiant heat performance testing. The contact heat testing evaluates the heat insulation time and heat transfer performance of the gloves when contacting the high-temperature objects; the convective heat testing simulates the flame environment, measuring the flame retardant time and heat transfer index of the material under the direct flame; and the radiant heat testing evaluates the protection ability of the material against the infrared radiant heat.

Chemical protection performance: Tests the penetration and degradation resistance of the glove material to the various chemicals. The penetration testing measures the time for the specific chemicals to penetrate the material; the degradation testing evaluates the change rate of the physical properties (such as the tensile strength and hardness) of the material after contacting the chemicals, to judge whether it is suitable for use at the chemical accident scenes.

Grip and dexterity: Evaluates the functionality of the gloves in the actual use. The grip performance testing simulates the friction force of gripping the tools or objects in the different states such as wet, dry and oily; the dexterity testing evaluates the degree of the influence of the gloves on the operation flexibility by letting the testers perform the fine actions such as picking up the small parts and buttoning up.

Overall protection performance and durability: Comprehensively evaluates the overall protection grade and structural integrity of the gloves. Including the reliability testing of the cuff design and closure methods (such as the Velcro and zippers), and the durability testing such as the seam strength and the interlayer peeling strength of the material after simulating the actual rescue actions (such as climbing and carrying).

Biological hazard protection performance: For the rescue scenarios that may contact the biological hazards such as the blood and body fluids, the liquid penetration resistance of the gloves is tested. The synthetic blood or other test liquids are usually adopted, and under a certain pressure, it is detected whether the penetration appears on the inner surface of the gloves, to verify their barrier integrity.

Visibility and warning performance: Tests the visibility of the gloves in the high-risk or low-visibility environments. Including the colour contrast under the daylight and night lighting, the reflection coefficient of the reflective strips and the colour fastness testing of the fluorescent materials, ensuring that the hand movements of the rescue personnel can be clearly identified.

Testing Scope

Firefighting and fire rescue gloves: In accordance with the standards such as GA 7 "Firefighter fire protective gloves", the key tests are their extreme flame retardancy, heat insulation, waterproofness and the mechanical properties at high temperatures. The testing scope covers the comprehensive protection ability under the various fire-scene thermal hazard scenarios from the direct contact with the flame to the handling of the high-temperature metal parts.

Rescue gloves (general): Applicable to the scenes such as the earthquakes, building collapses and traffic accidents, following the standards such as GB 24541 "Hand protection — Protective gloves against mechanical risks". The testing scope focuses on the high-grade cut resistance, puncture resistance, impact resistance and abrasion resistance, while taking into account a certain dexterity.

Chemical protection rescue gloves: For the scenes such as the hazardous chemical leaks and industrial accidents, in accordance with the standards such as GB/T 23462 "Protective clothing — Test method for permeation by chemicals". The testing scope needs to clarify the chemical types (such as acids, alkalis and organic solvents) that it can protect against and the corresponding permeation breakthrough times.

Water rescue gloves: Used for the flood and torrent rescue. The testing scope includes the waterproofness, thermal insulation performance after cold water immersion, grip force in the wet state and the performance stability of the buoyancy materials. At the same time, the dimensional change after long-term water immersion and the material strength retention rate need to be evaluated.

General cut and puncture resistant rescue gloves: Commonly used in the occasions with sharp edges such as the demolition and obstacle removal. The testing scope core lies in the cut resistance index and puncture force value in the EN 388 standard, and the protection performance attenuation of the gloves after repeated bending and wear is evaluated.

Multi-function comprehensive protection gloves: Integrating the multiple functions such as the mechanical, thermal and even limited chemical protection. The testing scope needs to cover all the claimed protection fields, and verify whether the functions weaken each other, for example, whether the outer abrasion-resistant coating affects the heat insulation or waterproofness of the inner layer.

Testing Methods

Cut resistance testing (EN 388/ISO 13997): A rotating circular blade is used to carry out the reciprocating cutting motion on the glove sample, measuring the force or the number of cutting cycles required to cut through the sample, and calculating the cut index. The ISO 13997 (TDM-100 method) uses a straight-edged blade to cut at a constant speed, recording the force required to cut through, and the result is more precise.

Tearing strength testing (EN 388): The sample is cut into a specific trouser shape or trapezoid shape, and stretched at a constant speed on a material testing machine until the sample is completely torn. The maximum force during the process is recorded, to evaluate the ability of the material to resist the tearing propagation. This performance is related to whether the crack will rapidly expand after the gloves are damaged.

Puncture resistance testing (EN 388): A standardized steel probe (with a diameter of 4.5 mm and a point radius of 0.5 mm) is used to vertically act on the fixed glove sample, pressing down at a constant speed until puncturing through. The maximum force at the moment of puncturing (unit: Newton) is recorded. The higher the force value, the better the puncture resistance.

Flame retardant and thermal protection testing (such as ISO 6942): The sample is exposed to a specific radiant heat source, and the time required for the back surface temperature of the sample to rise by 24 ℃ or 40 ℃ (RHTI24/RHTI40) is measured, and whether the material is ignited, melts and drips, and the afterflame time are recorded. In the convective heat testing, a propane flame is used to directly burn the sample.

Waterproofness testing (ISO 811): The hydrostatic pressure method is adopted. The glove material sample is clamped on the tester, one side bears the gradually increasing water pressure, and the pressure value when the water penetrates the sample is observed. This method is used to evaluate the ability of the material to resist the penetration of the liquid water, and is the key testing of the water rescue and chemical protection gloves.

Dexterity testing (EN 420): A certain number of testers are selected, and the standard testing is carried out with bare hands and wearing the gloves respectively. The common method is to let the testers pick up and transfer the small steel pins of the specified diameter within the specified time, and calculate the percentage of the efficiency after wearing the gloves to the bare-hand efficiency, which is the dexterity grade.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

1. GB 24541, Hand protection — Protective gloves against mechanical risks

2. GB/T 23462, Protective clothing — Test method for permeation by chemicals

3. GB 18401-2010, National general safety technical code for textile products

4. GB/T 3920-2024, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Colour fastness to rubbing

International Standards:

1. EN 388, Protective gloves against mechanical risks

2. ISO 13997, Protective clothing — Mechanical properties — Determination of resistance to cutting by sharp objects

3. ISO 6942, Protective clothing — Protection against heat and fire — Method of test: Evaluation of materials and material assemblies when exposed to a source of radiant heat

4. ISO 811, Textiles — Determination of resistance to water penetration — Hydrostatic pressure test

5. EN 420, Protective gloves — General requirements and test methods

Note: The applicable standard can be selected according to the product use and customer trade requirements; standards agreed in the contract take precedence over general standards.

Testing Instruments and Equipment

Universal material testing machine: Used for the mechanical property tests such as the tensile, tearing and puncture. The equipment is equipped with high-precision force sensors and displacement sensors, can precisely control the loading speed and direction, and automatically record the force-displacement curve. It is the core equipment for evaluating the mechanical protection performance of the gloves.

Cut resistance tester (TDM-100/Couptest): The TDM-100 tester cuts the sample at a constant speed with a horizontally moving blade, and the force required to cut through is directly measured by the sensor. The rotating blade type testers such as the Couptest evaluate the cut grade by calculating the number of rotating cycles required to cut through the sample.

Thermal protection performance tester (TPP/RPP tester): This equipment integrates the radiant heat source (quartz lamp array) and the convective heat source (propane torch), and can simulate the combined heat exposure. Through the copper slug heat flux sensor placed behind the sample, the heat flux and heat transfer rate are precisely measured, calculating the second-degree burn time.

Abrasion testing machine (Martindale or Taber): Used to evaluate the abrasion resistance of the glove surface. The Martindale testing machine makes the sample carry out the Lissajous trajectory friction with the standard abrasive under a constant pressure; the Taber testing machine uses a rotating abrasive wheel head. The grade is assessed by measuring the number of frictions when the sample is worn through or the mass loss after a certain number of times.

Hydrostatic pressure tester: Used to determine the water pressure resistance of the glove material. The instrument is mainly composed of a water pressure control system, sample clamping device and observation window. Through the water pump or pneumatic system, a steadily rising pressure is applied to the water on one side of the sample, until three water seepage points appear, and the water pressure value at this time is recorded.

Climate environmental test chamber: Used to simulate the extreme environments that the gloves may encounter in the actual use. Including the high and low temperature test chamber (testing the flexibility of the material under extreme cold or high temperature), constant temperature and humidity chamber (testing the performance stability in the damp-heat environment) and UV aging chamber (evaluating the anti-aging performance in the outdoor use).