Market & Standards

National brands still matter in U.S. industrial safety. They carry recognition, published test data, and an easier first conversation with a conservative safety manager, but they also cap the distributor’s economics.

The U.S. industrial hand protection market is not growing because gloves became fashionable. It is growing because the cost of not protecting hands has become harder to ignore - legally, financially, and operationally.

OSHA 1910.138 continues to require employers to select and enforce appropriate hand protection based on performance characteristics matched to actual hazards, tasks, conditions, and duration of use. Yet the practical reality on the ground is more complex than the regulatory text suggests.

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.138 is the specific regulatory foundation that governs when and how hand protection must be provided and used in general industry.

ANSI/ISEA 105-2024 represents the latest evolution of the primary North American voluntary consensus standard for classifying the performance of hand and arm protection. Released in November 2024 by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), it builds on prior editions (notably the transformative 2016 revision) to deliver greater uniformity, clarity, and transparency in how protection levels are communicated and selected.