Every year more than 2,000 workers are admitted to hospitals because of burn-injuries, flash-fire accidents, molten metal splash burns, and electric arcs. Reason for these injuries is often lack of proper personal equipment for workers at workplaces. Many of the workers in manufacturing and industrial workplaces don’t wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE) ultimately resulting in workplace accidents. Keeping in mind about workplace casualties, the Regulatory Authorities have made mandatory for companies to provide flame retardant garments to their workers in work environments where the possibility of hazardous incidents is high.

Saving the lives of workers at the workplace should be the first and foremost priority. Now the question is to select the right protective fabric for your workers to keep them safe. When choosing a flame retardant fabric; it’s always important to select that fabric which provides the optimum level of protection by safeguarding against the hazards, particular to the specific workplace. Also, the environment in which the garments made out of flame retardant fabric are to be used should be considered closely so that the fabric not only provides the best protection but at the same time it also fulfills the aesthetic needs.

To help you find the right FR fabric for your needs, consider the following guidelines to be useful:

The very first step in the selection of the suitable flame retardant fabrics is assessing the risks involved in a workplace so that all risks should be discovered. This could be done by hired professionals who carry out a detailed examination of your facility and whom can consider the risk containing factors involved, the extent of damage to be expected against heat and flame in a sudden burst of flash fire, electric arc, molten metal splash or other workplace hazards and the degree of protection required.

One needs to analyze these core factors to make sure the FR workwear you’re buying will provide adequate protection against all of these. It’s the job of the safety professionals and employers to identify all kinds of potential physical or environmental hazards associated with the workplace and against which the workers might be exposed to so that the most appropriate flame retardant garments could be selected for their workers.

When buying flame resistant clothing, your workplace climate acts as one of the most critical factors to consider. A variety of workplace hazards with different intensities and exposure levels always put workers in risky scenarios. The kind of protective garments you choose for your workers to a certain degree will be dependent on whether you work in cold or hot weather conditions. The risk of heat stress or frost damage obviously requires different sort of FR clothing so that the optimum blend of protection and comfort could be attained. So, make sure you predefine your workplace climate before selecting any FR fabric workwear.

Relating to workplace accidents, protective garments have become a compulsory requirement for workers almost in all industries, and every workplace has its own safety standards which specify the type and level of protection that FR garments should provide. Whatever FR clothing you choose, it must live up to your industry certifications and also the local safety standards set forth in the country where the work is taking place.

In order to better understand your industry and workforce requirements, we’ve summarized some of the most commonly used FR related standards as following:

• ISO 11612

Protective clothing – Clothing to protect against heat and flame. For fabrics’ protection against flame A1, including no melts and drips from the fabric, and against at least one other type of heat, B, C, D, or F. (B-convective heat, C-radiant heat, D-molten aluminum, E-molten Iron, F-contact heat)

• ISO 11611

Protective clothing for use in welding and allied processes. For fabrics’ protecting against welding, and the critical test factors are: Flame spread, Impact of splatter (of metal), Heat transfer (radiation), Electrical resistance, and Tear, tensile and burst strength.