Smart Protective Glove for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Against Chainsaws for Arborists

Working with a chainsaw is a risk for arborists. When handling a chainsaw, serious injuries can occur, particularly to the arms. For this reason, arborists must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) against chainsaws. This protective equipment corresponds to PPE category 3. Current protective gloves have several textile layers as protection. These gloves offer protection up to a chain speed of 24 m/s (class 2). No protective gloves for class 3 are available. A new approach is the solution presented in the paper, in which a smart glove and a modified electrical chainsaw can close this gap. For the development of the glove, the typical work situation, the current accident situations and accident statistics were analyzed. The legal requirements and standards for the European market and the wearing comfort were discussed, based on the data obtained, gloves were designed that included electronics and a chainsaw was configured accordingly. The glove was then tested under laboratory conditions to see whether the electronic functions in the glove can switch off the saw as soon as the glove comes too close to the chainsaw. The project showed the potential for smart textiles to overcome the limit in the layering of protective textiles.