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, current accident situations, and accident statistics were analyzed. The legal requirements and standards for the European market and the wearing comfort are discussed
based on these data, 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 could switch off the saw as soon as the glove came too close to it. The project showed the potential for smart textiles to overcome the limits in the layering of protective textiles.