As a leading provider of protective thermal workwear, FlexiTog adheres to a range of industry standards including EN Ratings in order to provide products of the highest possible quality. The Single European Act includes infrastructure to ensure that the levels of health and safety for workers are either improved or kept at a constant high level, and part of this is the development of EN ratings.

When you consider how our thermal workwear products provide crucial protection for people working in tough, cold environments, it’s especially important to us that we manufacture products capable of offering the highest level of protection and durability.

WHAT ARE EN RATINGS?

EN Ratings, often referred to as European Standards (ENs), are a set of standards from the European Union to ensure that certain products, procedures and systems meet a level of quality. They are ratified by one of three European organisations – CEN (European Committee for Standardisation), CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute).

There are many EN Ratings pertaining to the products that FlexiTog manufacture, in order to ensure that all such products are being made to an adequate standard by all companies in the industry. For example, EN 388 is a standard for gloves made to offer protection from machinery. This standard looks at many different qualities of a glove including its resistance to puncture, tear, blade-cut and abrasion.

WHY ARE EN RATINGS SO IMPORTANT?

As standards that set the quality of certain products and procedures, EN Ratings are important in helping to maintain a high industry standard. Not only is this a good way to help companies get up to speed quality-wise with industry leaders, but it ensures that consumers are able to benefit from a minimum standard of quality when buying products.

They are also very important when it comes to establishing a high standard of health and safety in the workplace. Many products, such as those created by FlexiTog, as well as procedures and parts involved in many industries come under the directive of EN Standards. In these cases, EN Ratings can determine things such as how much protection a pair of gloves must give from the cold, or from mechanical risks.

HOW FLEXITOG PRODUCTS COMPLY WITH EN RATINGS

FlexiTog complies with multiple EN Ratings when manufacturing our products to ensure that we are industry leaders in terms of quality. Below are some of the EN Ratings we adhere to when creating our products:

EN342 – Protection against cold environments

This EN Rating makes sure all wearable items offering protection from the cold are measured by certain parameters to ensure that they offer optimum protection. Thermal insulation, resistance to water penetration (optional) and air permeability are all tested.

EN511 – Gloves protecting against cold

Gloves made to offer protection from the cold are tested for their level of insulation and resistance to water amongst other parameters. This 2006 rating concerns any gloves that are meant to protect from the cold and is a rating that we follow rigorously when developing gloves such as the FG690C Endurance 690C Gloves, which are also EN388 certified.

EN388 – Gloves protecting against mechanical risk

This rating dates back to 2003, and it is extremely important because many glove-wearing workers operate machinery and other mechanical tools which can prove dangerous. The EN388 standard applies to all gloves that are intended to protect against machinery, and it tests for resistance to abrasion, tearing, punctures and blade-cutting to provide optimum protection. Our FG610 Gloves are EN388 certified.

EN20345 – Safety footwear standards

This standard provides requirements for many basic safety qualities in footwear including thermal insulation, slip resistance and ergonomics, qualities which are vitally important in cold environments.

For more information on the type of protective clothing that you need to wear in sub-zero temperatures for full compliance with EN ratings, download our clothing guide for free. In this useful guide, you’ll learn all about the certifications for cold store clothing and understand what type of clothing is suitable for each environment to help you work in comfort.