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Standard explainer · EN 407

EN 407: six digits between your hand and the heat.

Heat reaches hands more ways than any other part of the body — gripped, radiated, splashed, blown. EN 407 grades all six routes in one six-digit string, and reading it takes about as long as a glove takes to smoulder.

6 digits
Six kinds of heat
100–500 °C
The contact-heat ladder
X
Still means untested
EN 407 — HEAT & FLAME GLOVES — specification plate
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The string

Six positions, left to right

EN 407 marks thermal gloves with six digits, each 1–4 (or X for untested):

  1. Burning behaviour — does the glove itself ignite and keep burning? The gateway digit: high numbers here make the others meaningful.
  2. Contact heat — the everyday hero: level 1 ≈ 100 °C, level 2 ≈ 250 °C, level 3 ≈ 350 °C, level 4 ≈ 500 °C, each held for 15 seconds.
  3. Convective heat — hot air and flame-heated atmospheres.
  4. Radiant heat — furnace mouths, glowing metal, fire watch.
  5. Small splashes of molten metal — welding spatter territory.
  6. Large quantities of molten metal — foundry pouring; the digit that separates welders' gloves from founders'.

By trade

Which digits each trade reads first

TradeDigits that matterNotes
Welder (MIG/stick)1, 2 and 5 — flame, contact, spatterWelding gauntlets also certify to their own glove standard
TIG welderLower heat digits, dexterity firstThin goatskin beats thick leather for the job
Foundry & casting6 — large molten metal — plus radiantMatches the garment's 11612 D/E codes
Ovens, hot parts, moulding2 — contact heat by temperaturePick the level to the surface, add margin
Fire watch / hot works adjacent1, 3 and 4Flame behaviour and radiant lead

The pairing

Heat gloves live inside an FR system

Hot-work gloves rarely travel alone: the wrist gap between glove and sleeve is a classic burn site, which is why welding gauntlets run long and why the garment side — FR clothing with the right 11612 letters — matters as much as the glove. And the EN 407 string says nothing about mechanical work: a foundry glove still needs EN 388 numbers for the handling it does between heat events.

One care note with teeth: burned, hardened or oil-soaked patches on a heat glove are failure points, not patina. Heat kit gets inspected like the PPE it is.

Reading

Three rules for the string

Digit 1 gates
Poor burning behaviour undermines every other number
Contact = temperature
Level 2 ≈ 250 °C for 15 s — pick to the surface you grip
5 ≠ 6
Welding spatter and foundry pours are different digits — buy the right one
In this cluster

Questions

Heat glove FAQ

What do the six numbers on heat-resistant gloves mean?

EN 407's positions: burning behaviour, contact heat, convective heat, radiant heat, small molten-metal splashes and large molten-metal quantities — each rated 1–4, X meaning untested. Trades read different positions: welders watch 1, 2 and 5; foundries watch 6.

What temperature can EN 407 gloves handle?

The contact-heat digit sets it: level 1 is tested at 100 °C, level 2 at 250 °C, level 3 at 350 °C and level 4 at 500 °C, each for 15 seconds of contact. Match the level to the hottest surface actually gripped, with margin.

Are welding gloves and foundry gloves the same?

No — welding gloves are built for spatter (digit 5) and grip on tools; foundry gloves for large molten-metal quantities (digit 6) and radiant heat. The two digits exist precisely because the hazards behave differently on fabric and leather.

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