Safety Gloves for Mining and Resources
Mining across the Pilbara and Goldfields in Western Australia and the coal basins of Queensland puts hands under constant load. Hand injuries are consistently among the most reported incident categories in the sector, and most of them happen during maintenance and materials handling rather than during production itself.
Impact
Changing liners, handling drill rods, working on conveyor structures and breaking couplings all place the back of the hand between steel and steel. These are the injuries that put people on restricted duties for weeks. The property required is a segmented thermoplastic rubber guard certified with the EN 388 P designation, extending down the thumb and along the outside edge of the hand.
Cut & abrasion
Ore and rock abrade a palm through in a matter of shifts, and wire rope, conveyor belt edges, mesh and sharp scats cut hands. The properties needed are a high abrasion figure in the first EN 388 position and a TDM cut letter of D or above, since a glove that survives the cut but wears through in a day is no saving.
Vibration
Rock drills, jackhammers, grinders and impact wrenches transmit vibration into the hand arm system, and long term exposure causes Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome. Gloves have a limited effect here, so the primary controls are low vibration tools, exposure limits and job rotation, with warm dry hands as a supporting measure.
Chemical
Processing plants use flotation reagents, cyanide in gold circuits, acids in leaching and a range of solvents in workshops. Coated knits offer no barrier to these. The property required is a certified chemical glove under EN ISO 374-1 whose printed letter codes cover the specific reagent and concentration in use.
What to specify
The core specification is EN 388:2016+A1:2018 with the P impact designation for maintenance and materials handling, and a TDM cut letter of D or above. Add EN ISO 374-1 gloves at every processing plant reagent handling point, and EN 407 for hot work in the workshop.
Most operations issue an impact glove as the site standard and hold task specific gloves at the point of use. That approach works because it puts the chemical gauntlet where the reagent is rather than expecting a crew to carry it across a site.
Recommended gloves
- GRANBERG 5501: Heavy-duty cut and impact resistant gloves with Typhoon® fiber and nitrile foam coating.
- GRANBERG 9007: Cut Resistant Impact Hi-Viz™ protective gloves. Typhoon® fibre with nitrile coating, oil resistant.
- GRANBERG 9002: Cut D Impact Hi-Viz™ protective gloves. Durable KR-Grip material in palm and fingers, waterproof, winter lined.
- GRANBERG 5503: Cut-resistant gloves with impact protection, full nitrile coating, and touchscreen compatibility.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard mining glove in Australia?
Most sites specify an impact glove carrying the EN 388 P designation with a TDM cut letter of C or D and a strong abrasion rating. That combination addresses the crush, pinch and laceration injuries that dominate maintenance and materials handling, which is where most mining hand injuries occur.
Do anti vibration gloves prevent Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome?
They can reduce transmitted vibration in some frequency ranges but they are not a primary control. Reducing exposure through low vibration tools, maintained equipment, exposure limits and job rotation does far more. Keeping hands warm and dry also helps, because cold worsens the vascular symptoms.
Which gloves suit processing plant reagent handling?
Only gloves certified to EN ISO 374-1 with letter codes and permeation data covering the specific reagent and concentration. Check the breakthrough time against the actual contact duration, apply a safety margin because laboratory testing is done at 23 degrees Celsius on unstressed samples, and set a change interval.