The workers of pharmaceutical and chemical laboratory, the firefighters, electricians, the workers in metro-tunnel, and the power plant workers – all are risking their lives certainly by working exposed to some sort of hazards. That’s why by law now it is a mandatory thing for an employer to provide appropriate FR clothing to all the employees working under him.
But the FR clothing in any workplace must be distributed after thorough verification of the materials, hazard ratings, and product types. This must be done to ensure maximum protection for minimizing the amount of injury caused by any open source of flash fire, electric arc flash or any other kind of burning or explosion.
The term FR clothing stands for mainly two types of clothing – one is flame resistant, and the other one is flame retardant clothing. Although the concept of these two kinds of clothing is more or less the same; there are certain important differences between them, which you should know.
Different FR Apparel Types:
- Flame Resistant Clothing:
As the name suggests, this particular type of cloth is carefully designed to resist the fire flames and embers. The flame-resistant cloth should be made as both tough and durable. The components of this fabric have the ability to prevent burning as it self-extinguishes automatically.
The unique feature of the fibres of this garment is the ability to prevent the flame from spreading and minimizing burning injuries. One of the best FR cloth manufacturers FR Outlet uses inherent fibres which are naturally self-extinguishing.
- Flame Retardant Clothing:
Flame retardant clothing is quite same with flame-resistant clothing, despite the only thing that flame-retardant clothing is made of cotton or cotton-blend materials. As a result, it is not inherently resistant to fire.
Chemically it is “treated” into something which is a fire-resistant. But unlike flame-resistant cloth, the flame-retardant clothing is not totally self-extinguishing. Hence, it will not contribute much to the causes of the burning.
So, both of these two types of garments are highly fire resistant; the difference lies only in its garment material. Now we are going to have a look at how these FR clothes differ:
Inherent and treated are the two distinct types of FR fabric of which the FR clothing is made of. The FR property in inherent fabric lies at the molecular level. The FR materials neither wear out nor wash out. This keeps the garment flame resistant for the lifetime.
Now, the treated FR fabrics go through a chemical application procedure which makes them FR. But with the time the FR properties of garment will begin to decay and become less protective and less effective as the wear life of the apparel goes on. The frequency of usage, abrasion, UV exposure, and laundering will shorten the period of the usability of treated FR fabric.
Here are some examples of the several FR clothes:
- Denim –
Nowadays, numerous types and sizes of FR denim are available in the market. Those provide you with the required amount of protection within your budget. Mostly these types of denim are fairly comfortable and more durable than regular cargo pants or cotton pants.
- Jacket –
Jackets should always be flame resistant, offering an exceptional level of comfort. Under NFPA 70E, these jackets are marked as personal protective equipment (PPE) for providing combined protection against arc flash, flash fire, and molten metal splatter. It also must provide adequate protection from UV rays and heat.
Wrapping up:
You can choose any of these two types of FR cloths, but each one has to be built in accordance with the safety measures unless it will not be able to fulfil its purpose. Stay safe!