Page 37 - Occupational Health & Safety, August 2017

to be toxic. In addition to the human and medical costs, the utility lost the $3.5 mil- lion spent on the garments themselves.
■ A North American garment manu- facturer was caught using counterfeit UL certification labels on its AR/FR garments, claiming certification where none existed.
■ In June 2017, AR/FR garments were advertised and sold online. The sale pages were perfect replicas of two major, trusted American AR/FR garment companies. But the seller was not affiliated with these com- panies or any of their official distributors, and the buyer had no way to know this. These counterfeit garments even had “FR” printed on the front but were made of en- tirely non-FR, flammable cotton.
While the power of choice has the po- tential to be a double-edged sword, you can eliminate the risk by working with a trusted, experienced supplier. Choice can work miracles for wearer comfort, satis- faction, compliance, and complaint re- duction, but the explosion of choices also makes it more difficult and time consum- ing to separate high quality and reliable garments from lesser offerings. Further- more, the consequences of failing to prop- erly evaluate options can be both danger- ous and expensive.
The biggest trend in AR/FR PPE to- day is companies moving to Choice pro- grams. Though this trend has the ability to work wonders for worker satisfaction and compliance, it’s vitally important to maximize effectiveness and avoid possi- ble pitfalls by relying on a trusted, experi- enced AR/FR guide, writing and enforc- ing good specs, and periodic monitoring and adjustment as desirable new prod- ucts become available.
Scott Margolin is the Vice President of Technical Sales at Tyndale Company, Inc. (800-356-3433), an industry-leading manu- facturer, distributor, and service provider of arc-rated flame resistant clothing since 1981. With more than 25 years of FR industry ex- perience, he has traveled globally to share his research and learnings on flash fire, arc flash, and combustible dust hazards to improve worker safety and the fibers, fabrics, and garments that protect against these hazards. Visit www.TyndaleUSA.com or blog.Tyn- daleUSA.com for more information and to learn about how Tyndale is Proud to Protect workers across the country.
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