In the FR industry, there are a lot of pre-requisites set for the most appropriate FR clothing. But what type of FR clothing are you searching for?
Do you require flame-retardant or flame-resistant clothing? There is a possibility that your company has asked you to buy flame-resistant clothing, which is the most common type of clothing available.
Whatever may the reason be, if you don’t have any knowledge about custom logo FR uniforms, you are in for a big surprise.
In this blog, we shall be discussing what FR clothing is all about. How is it designed and how safe you are when you are wearing it.
What is flame-resistant clothing?
If we are starting from the basics, let us begin with the definition of FR clothing. On the basis of its name alone, it is easy to predict that FR clothing is either fully protected or mostly protected.
However, the notion may not be right after all. Flame-resistant clothing, mostly pronounced as FR clothing, is a type of clothing item manufactured and designed to safeguard the wearers from dangerous flames and thermal exposure.
To revise the definition a little more, let us take a look at the most certain methods in which flame-resistant clothing is manufactured to defend the wearer from injury happening from the flames.
The reason why they are known as flame-resistant clothing is that they are unable to catch fire, and even when they do, they are engineered to extinguish completely.
If you get caught up in a small, irregular flame while you are wearing flame-resistant clothing, the material will self-extinguish the fire almost immediately. This ability of self-extinguish protects the wearer from major injuries like skin burns, rashes, etc.
The attributes of flame-resistant clothing work even better and provide a far better chance of survival if the wearer is suddenly exposed to an electric arc, flash fire, or some other spontaneous thermal issue with the potential of creating a significant injury.
In situations like these, flame-resistant clothing creates a gap between being seriously injured and escaping unharmed.
Who should wear flame-resistant clothing?
If your staff is working in an environment where there is a potential threat of catching fire, heat, or electrical shock, they should wear flame-resistant clothing all the time. The guidelines recommended by OSHA offer a detailed explanation about who should wear flame-resistant clothing.
To narrow it down, there are three main categories of workers that wear flame-resistant clothing for protection. On the basis and levels of hazards, they are exposed to frequently to accomplish their work, the categories are suggested below:
- Thermal fires – This category is filled with the workers working in the chemical industry and pharmaceutical industry, along with the people working in reactors and refineries.
- Electrical shocks – Electricians are the most common people exposed to flashes and shocks, as well as other workers from the same field.
- Combustible dust – These are the workers working in manufacturing industries, food processing plants, and similar industries, etc.
Understanding the differences between secondary and primary protection
When you get to know about FR clothing, you continuously get to know about the terminologies’ primary and secondary protection. But what do you know about these protection levels? Is secondary protection far better than primary protection?
The main understanding and differences between these two protection levels are the types of clothing, protection, and usage they offer to the people. Depending on their abilities, let us briefly understand the differences between primary and secondary protection.
- Secondary protection
This type of protection is best suited for situations where the wearer may experience exposure at irregular levels. It includes different hazardous levels like flash fires, heat burns, substance splash, etc. but the possible chances are that they are not permanent. To keep it short, the secondary protection wearer is not exposed to dangerous elements in comparison to the primary wearer.
- Primary protection
This type of protection is best designed for the workers frequently exposed to electrical fires, thermal heat, chemical splashes, etc. One prime example of primary protection is the firefighter’s equipment. When on duty, a firefighter is exposed to a variety of dangerous hazards and may require the services of gear falling in the primary protection.
