A device and a method for safety instrumented control of a machine, wherein the machine is equipped with an electric drive, is operated by a person and has at least one metal component capable of causing injury in the event of a mechanical interaction with said person. The device is equipped with a left-hand and right-hand conductive glove in the form of an under-glove, a left-hand and right-hand insulating glove in the form of an over-glove, a control device which controls the electric drive of the machine and to which the conductive gloves can be connected, and a resistance test device of the control device which compares the resistance between the left-hand and right-hand conductive gloves to a predetermined minimum resistance and a predetermined maximum resistance and prevents the drive from being switched on if the detected resistance is less than the minimum resistance or greater than the maximum resistance.