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Insulating gloves are personal protective equipment frequently used by electricians as auxiliary protective equipment against electrical shocks, in all types of low and high voltage power installations. They represent a barrier against the passage of electric current between the live conductor and the earth, by means of the human body.
Besides their insulating properties, insulating gloves also have other protective characteristics against substances or agents that may affect the human body, classified as follows with regard to their protective category:
A: acid resistant
H: oil resistant
Z: ozone resistant
C: resistant against very low temperatures (-40°C)
M: high mechanical resistance – only for gloves
R: cumulates the protective characteristics type A, H, Z, M – only for gloves
Insulating gloves are made of natural latex (rubber).
Insulating boots are made of polymers or elastomers.
Insulating gloves are types of equipment that require periodical dielectric inspection to make sure they maintain their insulating properties. The voltage rates applied to this equipment are called test voltage rates / withstand voltage, and their values are regulated by standards depending on the operating voltage.
Periodical inspection must be performed in special conditions, in laboratories authorised for such tests by the Romanian Accreditation Association RENAR.
*Test voltage = specified value of the voltage applied to a glove / boot throughout a definite period of time, in conditions specified by the standard, in order to see whether the electrical insulation level is higher than a given value.
** Withstand voltage = the specified value of voltage which a glove / boot must withstand without distortion, striking, penetration or another electric effect when voltage is applied in standard specified conditions.
Gloves |
Category |
Maximum operating |
Test voltage |
Withstand (puncture) |
00 |
AZMC |
500 |
2500 |
5000 |
00 |
RC |
500 |
2500 |
5000 |
0 |
RC |
1000 |
5000 |
10000 |
1 |
RC |
7500 |
10000 |
20000 |
2 |
RC |
17000 |
20000 |
30000 |
3 |
RC |
26500 |
30000 |
40000 |