There is a high likelihood that your hands will be the nearest part of the body to the source of the arc and therefore the body part most at risk of harm. 

If your Arc Flash study used 600mm* as the “distance from arc” then the hands may be much closer.

If for example the hands were at 300mm and your incident energy level had been calculated as 12 cal/cm2 (at 600mm) then the energy levels at the hands would be at least 48 cal/cm2 (in other words a four-fold increase)

Currently there is no European (EN) arc flash standard for PPE which is designed to protect the hands

The open arc test method IEC 61482-1-1 will detail the ATPV / E_lim for a fabric or assembly of fabrics.

Manufacturers may refer to the US standard: ASTM F2675-13, Test Method For Determining Arc Ratings of Hand Protective Products however this may not be used to obtain a CE mark

In some cases, you may choose to consider other standards as being helpful, e.g. EN407 for the protection against thermal risks (gloves) EN 388 for protection against mechanical damage (gloves)

You would be advised to provide products that are made from fabrics (or fabric assemblies) that, at a minimum, achieve the same ATPV performance values that your chosen garments do.

You should consider that an arc flash may give rise to some or all of the following hazards: Intense heat, very bright light, flying debris, very loud noise, hot gasses, smoke and fumes, explosive pressure levels.

• Note it is typical to use 457 mm however 600 mm is used in this case for ease of demonstration of the point