Why Choose Flame Retardant Workwear? How To Choose A Supplier?

Importance and role of flame retardant workwear:

Every year thousands of workers are admitted to hospitals for workplace accidents, some of which end up being fatal. Different workplaces have different threats and can put workers in hazardous environments. Though accidents are unintended and may come without warning, prevention is the best practice that can be adopted. Protection of workers from such hazards and injuries is crucial for any organization. The best protection that can be offered to workers is through Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The safety of workers at the workplace is the foremost priority of any company. Flame retardant workwear protects from fires, high heat, radiations, steam, sparks, flames, electric arcs, molten metal splashes, and other hot materials. Most of the accidents occur when the workers do not get protection with this flame retardant safety clothing. And most of the injuries are preventable. Even various regulatory authorities of different countries have made it mandatory for the companies to provide fire retardant coveralls to their employees who are supposed to work in environments with a high possibility of hazardous incidents.

Reinforcement of safety culture by complying with relevant safety laws is the responsibility of each employer. Hence, you must equip all your personnel with the best quality safety uniforms. Injuries, accidents, casualties and fatalities, lost time, accident claims all can be reduced with the right type of workwear. Even employees feel valued when they get equipment for their safety and also increases the team morale.

Ordinary workwear vs Safety workwear:

Ordinary workwear cannot provide much-needed protection. All flame retardant and other safety workwear are fabricated keeping in view the guidelines and standards laid down in accordance with the occupation, workplace threats, and accidents that can occur while working there. For example, workwear needed to work while welding will need to ensure protection from electric arcs and flames. Similarly, a chemical engineer might need workwear equipment that can ensure protection from chemical splashes and spills. Quality fire retardant coveralls are also certified as an assurance of protection from the said threats.

Here’s what ordinary workwear cannot provide in likely events. Different sources of heat like radiant, convective, contact, etc. can cause burn injuries. Ordinary workwear will not protect the workers from heat hazards when they get exposed to them, while flame retardant workwear certified in accordance with EN ISO 11612 and EN ISO 14116 can protect from heat and flames when exposed for short durations. Additional equipment can provide protection even when the exposure is for a longer time.

Similarly, flame fires can be threatening for the workers working in the oil and gas industries or other industries where combustible dust particles are generated. Ordinary workwear cannot protect against the high temperatures that may result from expansion in the flame front. While flame retardant clothing ensures protection from flash fires. Normal fabrics melt on the skin when coming in contact with these hazards but the safety workwear doesn’t get melt.

Electricians and other industrial workers who have to work on voltage grids or inspection of switchboards and/or distribution boards, etc. need protection from electric arcs and electrostatic charges which normal workwear cannot provide. Whereas, the flame retardant workwear certified in accordance with IEC 61482-2 also ensures protection from plasma cloud-like events where radiant heat released is high and enough to ignite any combustible substance(s) in the vicinity.

Ordinary workwear cannot prevent electrostatic charges. Such workers who are required to work with electronic gadgets can be exposed to static electricity and electrostatic discharges, protection from which can be ensured by flame retardant workwear certified with the norms EN 1149-3 and EN 1149-5. Unlike ordinary workwear, this specific type of PPE can discharge the electrostatic charges from the fabric surface into the air thereby ensuring protection to the worker.

Chemical engineers and other workers where the work involves the use of dangerous chemicals can get drops or splashes of these liquids spilled. Ordinary workwear in these events will get damaged also exposing the skin of the worker to these chemicals resulting in chemical burns and other injuries. Flame retardant garments that follow the norm EN 13034 can ensure protection from harmful chemicals.

Then there is high-vis clothing made of fluorescent colors which are visible even in conditions like rain, fog, mist, dirt, dust or dark conditions. This workwear makes the worker visible when he/she has to work in such a workplace which again an ordinary garment cannot provide.

Fire-resistant clothing reduces the chances of fatal burns and injuries which ordinary workwear can never do.

Industries that require flame retardant workwear:

This makes it clear what ordinary workwear cannot provide but flame-retardant workwear can. Coming to the industries where workers need protection with high-quality certified PPE are the construction sites, firefighters, welding works, electricians, offshore workers, manufacturing industries, pharmaceuticals, blacksmiths, engineers (mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical), mining, oil refineries, furnaces, laboratories and more.

How to choose the right supplier for fire retardant workwear:

When it comes to equipping your workers with protection at the workplace, you must give them the best. And best can be found only with the ones who follow all standardization norms and fabricates PPE following the best manufacturing practices and other protocols. There is no use in buying equipment that cannot ensure the right protection. Here’s an ultimate guide into picking up the right supplier for flame-resistant workwear:

#1. Quality: Quality is what matters the most. The first thing is to know the kinds of risks and threats your workplace can expose the workers to. This is because if protection is required against electric arcs and you provide your workers with the workwear meant to protect from chemical splashes or otherwise, it is of no use. Once you know, what kind of workwear you need to look for, then comes its quality. Some of the parameters that can help you judge the workwear quality are:

• Check for the certification. Certified PPE ensures protection from hazards in up to 50 industrial washings or 75 domestic items of washing. Different certifications ensure protection from different hazards.
• If your workers can be exposed to multiple kinds of risks, then you should go for the multipurpose fire-retardant uniforms that protect from more than a single kind of risk. For instance, there comes flame-retardant workwear that protects against high temperatures, flames, heat also protects against electric arcs and electrostatic charges. So, it’s better to go for this type.
• Check for the type, thread count, and quality of the fabric used. The purpose of flame-retardant workwear is to minimize the flame spread and protect for longer duration as much as possible. And parameters like fabric and thread count have a great role in deciding on these. Either fire-resistant materials are used or the fabric is treated with a flame inhibitor by spraying the fabric or dipping it in a liquid that chemically interferes with the combustion process.
• Next is if you want high-visibility workwear. This shall depend upon the working conditions where workers will have to work. For that, either you can go for high-vis clothing that uses colors that have maximum visibility and are even treated with Teflon to make them dirt-resistant. OR you can choose the ones with reflectors.
• Check for the seams of the workwear. There should be no loose or open pockets or seams that can allow penetration of any hazardous material inside the suit. The slightest opening can cause injury. High-quality products come with sealed seams.
• One of the most important parameters is comfort while still maintaining maximum functionality. Since the workwear will be worn while working, the worker will not be able to efficiently and productively work in an uncomfortable workwear uniform. He must stay safe as well as be able to comfortably work with a dress put on.

Now, you can get this quality only with manufacturers having certifications. And for your kind reference, Xinke Protective has both UL and CE certifications. They specialize in manufacturing flame retardant overalls since 1998. To never compromise with the quality of their fabricated products, each product goes through an extensive quality check at an independent quality inspection center.

#2. Price: Once you are satisfied with the quality, the next thing is affordability. The workwear should be reasonably priced. Do not go for very cheap products if you have any doubt on quality. But, look for quality that is logically priced. Since Xinke Protective is an independent factory with no middlemen involved in sales and purchases, you can get the best quality at affordable pricing. Besides, they have a huge manufacturing capacity which brings down prices since all raw material is purchased in high volumes at bulk prices. This reduces the final price of the finished product without compromising its quality.

#3. Delivery time: While looking for suppliers of fire-resistant workwear, you must receive timely consignments so that no work is hampered due to delay. Xinke Protective is furnished with a fully automatic cutting machine and 4 automated production lines to improve efficiency. And hence they can deliver 1,500,000 pcs workwear per year and that too on time.

#4. Service: After all, it is the service that matters today. Being in the service industry, you already know the high values of service.

Xinke Protective is proud to provide high-quality products on time and with exclusive and pleasing services like having all kinds of protective wear (more than 500 styles of garments) under the same roof making it your one-stop-shop for flame retardant clothing needs, free design, 24 x 7 availability, support OEM and ODM.