Flame resistant clothing is compulsory for some professions. The role of FR clothing is to protect you from burns caused by combustible dust, electric arcs, and flash fires. FR clothing protects professionals in a range of industries while they are carrying out hazardous tasks. Since their invention, FR clothing has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives. Let’s find out how Flame-resistant (FR) clothing can save your life.
Flame resistant clothing is a type of garment designed to protect you against thermal injury and flames. The beauty of FR clothing is that it resists fire and self-extinguishes as soon as the source of fire is removed. Therefore, you won’t get burned due to the initial exposure and heat transfer.
FR clothing, such as custom FR shirts, is used in many professions, such as oil and gas, electrical utilities, research labs, and fire service, to name a few. In these fields, workers have to face open fires, explosions, and thermal incidents. Therefore, they must put on safety clothing before getting to work.
What Is Flame-Resistant Clothing?
Most types of fabrics tend to catch fire and keep burning when exposed to an explosion or fire. Also, some types of fabric melt onto the body of the workers. As a result, they may sustain serious injuries because textile fires tend to burn much longer.
FR clothing is designed so that it takes much longer to catch fire when exposed to high temperatures and combustion. Even if the fabric catches fire, it will stop burning the moment you get away from the source of heat or fire. Therefore, you have enough time to get away and save your life.
But it’s essential to keep in mind that FR is not synonymous with fireproof. Therefore, all types of flame-resistant garments will burn when exposed to heat or fire for a long time.
Generally, FR clothing is designed in a way that it won’t break when exposed to heat. Also, the fabric has some open areas that expose your skin to hazard. So, your skin may receive burns.
How Does Flame-Resistant Clothing Work?
The material of FR clothing is fire resistant. Some common materials are Modacrylic, Kevlar, and Nomex, to name a few. These types of materials have a lot of FR qualities.
Besides, some fabrics are naturally flame resistant, such as cotton. They are treated with special chemicals so that they resist heat and flame. But both of these fabric types behave the same way when exposed to heat. They stop burning when they have moved away from the source of heat.
There are various flame-resistant materials. And each material comes with its own set of benefits. Based on your type of work and workplace, you may want to go for the best flame-resistant material.
What is the purpose of FR clothing?
The purpose of FR clothing is to protect you in emergencies, such as an explosion and fire. For instance, if you work in an environment with a high risk of fire like metalworking or manufacturing.
Although this type of incident doesn’t happen every day, you must take proper precautions to deal with the worst-case scenario. Therefore, if you wear FR clothing, you can avoid severe injuries.
Basically, manufacturers choose non-conductive fabrics and other stuff for FR clothing. The idea is to minimize the extent of burn injuries. With FR shirts and pants, you can enjoy thermal insulation to stay safe against extreme heat.
High-quality flame-resistant clothing won’t break open, which is why you can protect yourself against hazards.
Who needs to go for flame-resistant clothing?
If you work in an environment where you are at a high risk of electrical, heat, or fire mishaps, you may want to go for flame-resistant clothing. According to OSHA guidelines, professionals in the hazardous environment must put on FR shirts and pants to be on the safe side.
Primarily workers that fall in three categories should opt for FR clothing to be safe. Given below is a description of three significant hazards:
Combustible dust: In this category, workers face combustible dust in the paper and pulp industry and food processing plants
Flashfire: In this category, workers handle dangerous chemicals that may catch fire in a fraction of a second. These industries include refineries, chemical industries, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Electric arc: In this category, workers handle electrical equipment that uses high voltage, such as utility workers and electricians.
What is the difference between primary and secondary protection?
As far as flame-resistant clothing is concerned, you may have come across two terms, namely “primary protection” and “secondary protection.” There is a slight difference between the two.
The two factors that differentiate the two types of FR clothing are protection and the intended usage. Given below is a description of the difference between primary protection and secondary protection.
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Primary protection
Primary protection indicates FR clothing designed for workers who require protection against frequent exposure to splashes from molten substances, radiant heat, and flames.
Firefighter’s gear is an excellent example of FR clothing desired to offer primary protection. Most firefighters deal with extreme conditions, so they require additional safety offered by primary protection gear.
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Secondary protection
FR clothing with secondary protection is suitable for workers frequently exposed to hazards, such as flames, molten substance flashes, and radiant heat. However, these types of incidents happen less frequently. Therefore, these workers don’t have to put on primary protection gear.
Long story short, if you are looking for the best protection gear for your team of workers, you can go for flame-resistant clothing. This protective gear can save the lives of wearers. Make sure that you go for primary protection gear or secondary protection gear based on the risk of incidents in the workplace.
RB:
Apparelnbags is the online shop where you can obtain excellent quality FR Gear, whether this is your first time buying FR clothing or you have years of expertise and are just searching for some replacement items.
We recognize the necessity of providing the greatest safety equipment to yourself and your staff. This includes apparel that is flame-resistant. And as retailers, it is our job to make sure you have these things. We take your safety and the safety of your employees very seriously. That is why we offer high-quality safety equipment. Pants, shirts, overalls, and outerwear such as coats and jackets are among our many flame-resistant apparel options. All of these apparel items are available in a variety of styles to meet your specific demands.
Check out our website for all of your flame-resistant needs. And please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns about safety apparel, including how it works, where to buy it, whether you need it, or anything else. We’ll be pleased to answer any questions you have and give you any extra information you require.
Author Bio
Shawn joy is a community manager and a professional blogger for 2 years. He loves to write his thoughts into his different niche related blogs. He is a business analyst and suggests different business strategies and objectives to enhance the business in the competitive market for attracting the customer in his blogs. A fitness freak and loves to do working out In his leisure time.
