Why Your Raincoat May Need Flame Retardant？
Rainwear and that too flame resistant is something that at first might not come to mind. Equipping the workers with rainwear as they are going to be working in all weather conditions is necessary, but here is why the provided rainwear needs to have flame retardant properties.
Well, of course, it is for safety reasons that safety workwear (personal protective equipment) is provided to the workers. A workplace may come with known and unknown hazards and it is always best to be equipped with the best protective equipment.
Coming to the best workwear for people who are expected to work in all weather conditions like heavy rain and wind is the one that is equipped with flame retardant properties. And what makes it suitable and the best option is the protection it ensures against hazards such as flame exposures, flash fires, or electric arcs. Bad weather as the working condition worsens with these hazards and a flame retardant raincoat can save the worker’s life.
Besides safety, productivity increases when the workers can comfortably work in hazardous work environments. And this comfort and confidence of safety come only with proper safety equipment. Otherwise, rain, wind, flash fires, electric arcs, flames, hot gases, high temperatures not only distract the workers but are highly dangerous and life-threatening.
Industry Standards for flame retardant raincoats:
There are two industry standards for flame-resistant rainwear and these are:
- ASTM F1891:The garments standardized per ASTM F1891 ensure protection from electric arcs. The garments standardized with these norms should be used in industries like electric utilities where electric arc flashes are common and dangerous threats.
These garments are checked for three pieces of data.
- Arc Rating: It indicates how much energy is required to create the 50 percent probability of a second-degree burn over bare skin.
- Heat attenuation factor (HAF): This is the percentage of energy that is blocked by the material.
- Break-open threshold (BOT): This is the amount of energy it takes to create openings or holes in the material. This is significant for an outer layer because this is the point at which the energy breaks through the material to the next layer. This can be skin, but in the case of rainwear, it is likely an arc-resistant shirt.
Moreover, the garments that comply with the ASTM F1891 standards are expected to refrain from getting ignited, molten, drip, or breaking open during a typical arc flash. And when this happens in rain, it will keep the worker dry.
- ASTM F2733:This standard was introduced in 2009. The garments standardized per ASTM F2733 ensure protection against flash fires. These garments are mostly required by workers working in oil and gas companies, natural gas, and oil drilling, refining, or exploration.
These garments are certified after they pass an instrumented mannequin test in which the burn injury percentage that a worker might expect to receive from a three-second hydrocarbon fire is predicted. The predicted burn injury must be less than 40 percent and the material must not melt and drip, ignite, or shrink for receiving the compliance certificate. Even the fasteners and closures will have to remain functional.
Many of F2733 standardized clothes also protect against hot liquid splashes. And there are yet other raincoats that protect both against electric arcs as well as flash fires.
Flame retardant raincoats: The Fabrics used:
Safety at the workplace is of paramount importance. Not all types of fabrics can be used to craft flame retardant raincoats. Earlier, raincoats were made only of breathable material so that water cannot penetrate inside the outfit. But today, there are both breathable as well as non-breathable clothing available, and both are made differently.
Non-breathable fabrics which are arc-rated and/or flash-fire rated garment are coated with a flame-resistant and waterproof substance once or twice. Some of the commonly used substances for coating are PVC, polychloroprene, and sometimes nylon substrate.
NOMEX fabrics are used for both breathable as well as non-breathable raincoats. They are superior to others due to inherent flame-resistant properties which are not degraded by laundering.
Breathable raincoats are made by laminating an arc-rated and/or flash fire-rated woven shell fabric to a waterproof breathable lining.
Concealed zips and snap closures add further protection. Using high visibility colors makes the workers visible even in hard and bad weather conditions. All these keep the user dry, safe, and visible at the worksite.
Areas of the requirement for flame retardant raincoats:
There is a wide range of applications for flame-resistant rainwear. Many industries need workers to be working in outdoor settings where workers are exposed to hazards like flame exposures, electric arcs, and flash fires besides rain and high wind.
Most of the oil and gas industries and the ones including electric utilities are the ones that pose hazards protection from which can be ensured by flame retardant raincoats. In electric utility industries, workers are often working in inclement outdoor environments. Since they have to work outdoors, there may be rain, wind, and the threat from electric arc flashes since their work involves energized equipment.
Oil and gas extraction industry operation workers also spend a considerable amount of time working outdoors and hence flame-retardant raincoats are the best safety wear for them. While working in oil mining and refining industries, there is potential exposure to hydrocarbon flash fire against which proper protection is sought.
Flame retardant raincoats may also be worn in other outdoor wet work environments, especially where fire or electrical hazards may be present. Some of these may include farms, construction sites, shipyards, highways, electrical maintenance sites, telecommunications, solar, chemical processing plants, and more.
As a part of Safe work practices, every field worker whose work may involve the aforesaid hazards must be provided safety clothing.
Xinke Protective Technology Co. Ltd. is well furnished with both capacities and capabilities for the best quality flame retardant raincoats. These are just one of the kinds from a multidimensional array of safety workwear equipment being fabricated at their factory lines. Customization option gives the clients a broad range to select from according to the specific needs of their workers.
By procuring the best quality flame-resistant raincoats for your workers, the net result will be happier, more comfortable, and safer workers.