Page 73 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2017

Developing a thorough, researched PPE program with trusted flame resistant fabric for everyday wear is critical to protect yourself, and your team members, against potential injuries from unexpected flash fires.
pect of a garment when it comes to FR pro- tection. There is a vast range of FR fabric available; however, each FR fabric performs differently. It’s critical to have a deep under- standing of the FR fabric manufacturer— its reputation, history, and technology— and the specific science used to give your FR garment protective properties.
Unfortunately, FR qualities are not vis- ible, so you must verify the performance of your FR apparel. For oil and gas work- ers exposed to flash fire hazard, having a daily workwear garment certified to NFPA 2112 is a necessary starting point. Howev- er, since all fabrics with less than 50 per- cent burn can be certified, it is important to know the actual body burn percentage of the ASTM F1930 test. Fabrics can be certified with 50 percent total body burn or 10 percent, and these differences should be understood.
8. Proper maintenance is key to FR apparel performance.
Care and maintenance not only extends the life of FR apparel—it is essential to al- lowing the garment to protect oneself to its fullest capability in the event of a flash fire. Keep FR apparel well maintained, patched with the correct FR fabric when needed, and as clean as possible, because flammable contaminants can compromise its performance. Check with your FR fab- ric or garment provider for proper care and maintenance instructions. Some job sites may prevent clothing from being to- tally spotless, but for dirtier tasks, consider wearing a disposable FR coverall over daily FR apparel to reduce soiling.
Oil and gas workers routinely work in areas where the flash fire hazard exists. Understanding the risks at hand and the various facets of flash fires and trusted ways to protect oneself are the first steps in creating a safer work environment for these key industries.
Scott Francis, Midwest Regional Market manager for Westex by Milliken, has been involved with the safety industry since 1991 and has extensive experience with protective apparel fabrics and programs. He participates in numerous industry organizations and ad- dresses trade associations regarding hazard protection, electric arc and flash fire hazards, body burn injury, the protective performance of FR clothing, and related topics.
fied safety personnel must perform a haz- ard assessment in that work environment to determine the level of PPE required.
4. Flash fire injury can be increased by non-flame resistant clothing.
The very science of a flame has three basic steps:
1. The initial flame causes material (for example, non-FR clothing) to break down, or decompose, into smaller molecules that are vaporized into gaseous fuel.
2. The fuel reacts with oxygen in the air to produce light, heat, and reactive mol- ecules, called radicals.
3. The produced heat and radicals lead to further decomposition of the mate- rial (for example, non-FR clothing) and the production of additional fuel—furthering the chain reaction of the fire triangle.
In the event of a momentary flash fire, everyday non-flame resistant work clothes can act as fuel and ignite and will continue to burn even after the source of ignition has been removed. This is where the say- ing “Stop, Drop, and Roll” comes into play because a person’s non-FR clothing will re- main on fire until they put the clothing fire out. A clothing fire can continue to burn well after the brief flash fire event is over, resulting in more extensive burn injuries on skin clothed with non-FR fabric.
5. Flash fire injury can be reduced by flame resistant clothing.
FR apparel provides two key roles in protecting oil and gas workers:
1. It self-extinguishes to mitigate burn injuries when the source of ignition is removed.
2. It provides insulation to reduce probability of a second-degree burn.
The combustion process has many intricate layers, presenting various op- portunities for FR apparel to snuff out the flame. Unlike standard, non-FR clothing, FR apparel is uniquely engineered to inter- rupt one or more of the fundamental steps required for flames to propagate. Simply stated, FR apparel removes the fuel out of the fire triangle.
Developing a thorough, researched PPE
program with trusted flame resistant fabric for everyday wear is critical to protect your- self, and your team members, against po- tential injuries from unexpected flash fires. It’s as simple as selecting to wear a different work shirt, but as meaningful as helping protect one’s life.
6. Not all FR clothing is suited to pro- tect against flash fires.
Determining which FR apparel is best suited for your specific hazard and work environment is a significant task, but there are industry standards available to aid in this process. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) created guidelines and standards to aid the industry. NFPA 2112 is the industry standard on flame resistant garments for protection of industrial per- sonnel against flash fire, providing clear testing guidelines.
One requirement of NFPA 2112 is for flash fire testing to be conducted at three sec- onds with a pass/fail criterion of 50 percent total body burn under the testing protocols of ASTM F1930 (Standard Test Method for Evaluation of Flame Resistant Clothing for Protection Against Flash Fire Simulations Using an Instrumented Manikin).
NFPA 2113 is the Standard on Selec- tion, Care, Use, and Maintenance of Flame- Resistant Garments for Protection of In- dustrial Personnel Against Short-Duration Thermal Exposures. NFPA 2113 has a wealth of information, most notably lan- guage around a workplace hazard analysis.
It’s important to reference standards appropriate to NFPA 2112 and flash fire hazards. FR apparel standards for other hazards, such as arc flash (AR), use catego- ries as metrics, such as Category 2 PPE. FR apparel engineered for arc flash and FR ap- parel engineered for flash fire possess dif- ferent properties, which sometimes do not translate across the hazards, so looking for the appropriate certification for flash fire hazards is a critical step in selecting the most effective PPE to minimize burn injury.
7. Not all FR apparel provides the same protection.
Fabric is the single most important as-
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