PPE markings: what the string on the shell is claiming
Type the string stamped on a helmet shell, an eyewear frame or a glove cuff. Each is separated out, matched to the standard that defines it, and read back as what the equipment claims and what it does not.
It reads a marking. It does not judge a product.
It says what each token in a marking asserts, which standard asserts it, and what the marking does not claim. It never says a product is safe, suitable, compliant, certified, genuine, or fit for a task. It does not check a certificate, does not verify that the mark on the equipment is genuine, and does not tell anyone what to buy or wear. A marking is a claim made by a manufacturer under a standard, and this page reads the claim.
Also not carried: the legacy four-position EN 388 edition, hearing protection, ANSI Z87 markings and body-armour standards.
Nothing on this page resolves into a compliance answer. It names a source, states the jurisdiction it belongs to and the date it carries, and stops there; whether anything conforms is a question for the current text, the body entitled to say so, and somebody qualified to read both.
Read the marking
BS EN 388:2016Equipment
Try a marking
Token by token
6 rowsUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
readUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
placeholderUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
placeholderUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
readUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
readUnited Kingdom and the EU · 2016
impliedWhat this marking asserts
Four positional mechanical results and a TDM cut result for the tested area of this glove, principally the palm. The second position carries no usable Coupe classification, and the cut claim rests on the letter instead.
What it does not assert
Nothing about chemical exposure, heat, electrical contact or hypodermic needles, all of which are outside this standard's scope. The fourth position is a sharp-point result and is not a needle-resistance claim. No impact claim is made, and where one is made it would cover only the specifically claimed area and never the fingers. The results describe the tested area on new samples, not the whole glove and not its remaining service life.
Which standard says so
BS EN 388:2016, clauses 7.2 to 7.4
United Kingdom and the EU · 2016
A later amended edition exists, BS EN 388:2016+A1:2018, and this reading describes the 2016 text.
Read the standards-index entryHow this page was built
Where the reading comes from
The equipment and standard controls establish one grammar before any token is read. That grammar supplies the token order, the property each position names, the direction of its scale and the clause citation. A string that does not fit stays unread rather than being passed to another grammar.
Every reference on this shelf carries its jurisdiction and its date as fields rather than as prose, so a reader can see at a glance whose instrument it is and how old the edition described is. Where a record's own text does not state a date, the field says so instead of guessing one.
A worked example
For 3X03E, the first four characters are read as abrasion, Coupe cut, tear and puncture positions. X means no classified Coupe result, while 0 means the tear test did not reach level 1. E is the separate TDM cut letter. With no P after it, the final row states that no impact claim is marked.
What this does not model
The decoder does not reproduce a level table or reveal the threshold behind any level. It does not verify the mark, a certificate, the item's condition or its fit for a task. Multi-component eye protection is compared only where the selected grammar defines an assembly rule.
The standards named here are the copyright of their publishing bodies and no requirement text, performance table or pictogram is reproduced: this page describes what a marking position means and cites the clause that defines it. A marking is a claim made under a standard, and it describes tests carried out on samples rather than the present condition of the item in your hand. Where an edition has moved on, the entry on the standards index says so.
Related
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- Commercial agency: agent, distributor, and what registration changesTwo commercial arrangements that look alike on paper are treated very differently once one of them is registered. This sets out how the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia draw that line, what registration attaches to it, and where the sources disagree.Reference · 5 min