What are the situations when you need flame resistant clothing? Well, there are several work conditions where they are useful.
Normal fabrics are flammable and hence, not suitable in these work conditions. From the point of ignition, they burn away with an increasing rate of flame spread. More importantly, they will keep on burning even if the source of ignition is removed. Either you have to extinguish the fire, or it will stop burning when all inflammable material is consumed.
Popularly called FR clothing, it is a category of garments and fabrics that prevent the spread of fire away from the immediate area of burning.
The clothing resists ignition and get extinguished as soon as the source of fire is removed.
Remember, flame-resistant clothing is not fireproof clothing. Hence, do not expect protection from burn injuries in the immediate periphery of ignition by wearing flame-resistant clothes.
Then what do they do?
Flame-resistant clothing is made from nonflammable stuff that has a chemical structure that resists the flames naturally. It may catch fire, but the rate of burning is slow. Most of the time, it extinguishes automatically. The most important function is to prevent the spread of fire.
When clothing is made from chemically treated material that has self-extinguishing properties, then it is called flame-retardant clothing.
These fabrics undergo chemical treatment to get some of the properties of flame-resistant fabric. It burns slow and extinguishes automatically. Any type of fabric can be made flame-retardant.
Fire resistant clothing offers high protection against fire. These clothes do not catch fire under normal oxygen levels.
It is made by blending oxidized fibers that carbonizes and expands when burn. It expands and eliminates oxygen content within the fabric.
Fire resistant clothing offers higher TPP index or Therma Protective Performance Index.
TPP is a measure to assess the thermal performance of fabric when it is exposed to radiant or convective heat. It is the number of seconds required to suffer second-degree burns from exposure to a source of thermal energy.
These two terms are frequently discussed when people talk about flame resistant coveralls. What does it mean?
Primary protection means that the clothing is designed to wear during activities where the wearer is exposed constantly to flames, molten substances, and radiant heat. An example is a firefighter who is always exposed to extreme conditions and needs maximum protection.
Secondary protection means the wearer is not exposed to the hazard constantly, but intermittently.
Atlas Infiniti is the one and only place where you get ae wide range of heat resistant clothing, flame- and fire-resistant uniforms, and fireproof clothes. Each item is made from industry-standard material and it is quality tested.
In every country, authorities lay down rules and regulations to keep the workforce safe while working in hazardous conditions. Virtually, every work condition is different. However, the safety parameters need to be formulated in the framework defined by the regulating bodies.
You have to contact the concerned officials to find out the specific information. It required more research into the work environment and industry.
Since you are the owner of the company, it is your sole responsibility to provide safety gear. Remember, there is always a temptation to avoid the use of safety gears up to a certain extent.
It is both from the employer’s as well as the employee’s side. For example, a chemical plant does not keep reserves to buy fireproof jackets because there has not been a single incident of fire hazard in the past three decades.
Similarly, there could be a situation where people working near a furnace do not wear heat resistant clothing because they find it ‘too clumsy and uncomfortable”.
However, it is not at all a healthy situation. Accidents can happen anytime, without any warning. Hence, preventive measures are mandatory.
The rules may seem taxing or unreasonable, but they are there for some good intentions. The correct approach is to follow the rules and stay safe.