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Sourced to orderCut-resistant sleeves and arm guards for handling sheet metal, glass and blades — the gap a glove leaves between the cuff and the sleeve. Brought in to order.
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Most handling injuries that are not to the hand are to the forearm, and that is exactly the strip of skin a short-cuff glove and a rolled-up sleeve leave exposed. Cut-resistant sleeves close it. They are cheap, they are rated on the same EN 388 scale as gloves, and they are much more likely to be worn in summer than a long-sleeved jacket.
Read the TDM letter, A to F, the same way as on a glove, and specify against the actual material being handled — glass and thin sheet metal cut far more readily than timber. Check the length and how it is held up too: a sleeve that slides down the arm every ten minutes gets taken off.
Anywhere near rotating machinery. A loose sleeve is an entanglement hazard, and a close-fitting long sleeve on the garment itself is safer than an added one. For heat and welding, arm protection is a different standard again — EN ISO 11611 territory, not EN 388.
Protecting the forearm, which is the area a short glove cuff and a rolled sleeve leave bare. They are standard in glass handling, sheet metal work, recycling sorting and meat processing — anywhere people reach into or past a sharp edge. They are rated on the same EN 388 scale as gloves, so you can match the sleeve level to the glove level.
Use the TDM letter from A to F, as on gloves, and pick it from the material rather than the trade. Thin sheet metal and glass cut much more readily than timber or plasterboard, so they need a higher letter. Going unnecessarily high makes the sleeve hotter and stiffer, which means it gets left off — the right level worn beats a higher level in a locker.
Not around rotating or in-running parts. Any loose sleeve is an entanglement risk, and near a lathe, drill or conveyor the correct answer is close-fitting clothing and proper guarding, not added sleeves. Arm protection belongs on manual handling tasks, not on machine operation.
Most knitted cut-resistant sleeves are machine washable at a moderate temperature, and they should be washed, because contaminated sleeves get left off. Follow the care label, skip the fabric softener, and replace a sleeve once the knit is nicked or thinned — a damaged sleeve no longer performs at its rated level.
We can bring it in, and it is a different standard from cut protection. Heat and flame is EN 407 for gloves and EN ISO 11611 for welding clothing, so a cut-rated sleeve is not a heat-rated one. Tell us the hazard — splash, radiant heat, welding spatter — and we will quote against the right mark.