Development of requirements for assessing innocuousness of protective gloves and footwear for the user

"The aim of the task was do develop criteria for assessing innocuousness of protective gloves and footwear to the users' health. Those criteria would be an addition to the harmonized standards and would make a fuller assessment of innocuousness possible in the context of compliance with the basic health and safety requirements of Directive 89/686/EEC.It was shown than it was impossible to rule out the presence of harmful chemicals in the materials gloves and footwear were made of. Therefore, it was necessary to make the requirements of the harmonized standards on innocuousness of protective gloves and footwear more precise, so that they considered all chemicals possibly present in component materials and which, according to today's knowledge, could have a harmful effect on the users' health. Suggestions for assessment criteria were developed; they have the form of a statement of the innocuousness of the products with provisions resulting from current legal documents. The suggested statement of innocuousness is an addition to the requirements of the process of EC-type examination of protective gloves and footwear.Also developed were guidelines for manufacturers on confirming innocuousness of protective gloves and footwear - a more detailed expression of the basic health and safety requirements of Directive 89/686/EEC."