When You Need Impact (ISEA-138) Protection

Back-of-hand impact is a different hazard from cut, and it carries its own rating. A glove can be A9 cut-resistant and still leave knuckles and fingers exposed to the pinches, crush, and struck-by forces common in heavy work. ANSI/ISEA 138 is the standard that scores how well a glove’s back-of-hand armor absorbs those impacts.

What ISEA-138 measures

The test drops a weight onto the knuckles and each finger and measures the force transmitted through to the hand. Lower transmitted force earns a higher level: Level 1 (≤9 kN transmitted), Level 2 (≤6.5 kN), and Level 3 (≤4 kN). A Level 3 glove lets the least force reach your hand. Fingers are tested separately from knuckles, so a strong knuckle guard doesn’t mask weak finger protection.

When to spec it

Reach for impact protection when your injury logs show bruised or broken knuckles, pinch injuries, or struck-by incidents — the pattern in oil & gas, heavy industry, metal fabrication, mining, and construction. If those injuries are showing up, adding cut level won’t stop them; back-of-hand protection will.

How the protection works

Impact gloves add molded TPR (thermoplastic rubber) across the back of the hand and fingers. Well-designed TPR channels force around the bones and flexes at the joints, so it protects without turning the glove into a brick — dexterity still matters, especially for tool work.

Don’t trade cut for impact

The mistake is treating impact and cut as either/or. Our impact lines pair the TPR armor with a cut-resistant shell, so you don’t give up cut rating or grip to protect the back of the hand. Tell us the exposure and we’ll match an ISEA-138 level and send a free sample with its cert docs.