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PROTECTIVE APPAREL Protective Apparel at the Tip of the Pyramid What are the innovations and strategies impacting protective apparel for workers in extreme environments such as foundries and pulp paper mills? BY DAVID KOPF The more extreme the work environment, the more protec- tive apparel can mean the difference between a job well done and a disaster. Recent trends in fibers, materials, and coatings are impacting how the developers of apparel help employees do tough jobs. For example, workers in foundries are regularly exposed to extreme temperatures and situations. Molten metal can exceed temperatures of 2,500°F. This exposes workers to a high risk of burns if safety measures aren’t followed. For another example, pulp and paper mill workers can be exposed to chemicals like chlorine, chlorine dioxide and sulfur compounds that can lead to respiratory issues, burns, and other health concerns. Also, the paper drying process requires high temperatures, putting work- ers at risk of heat-related illnesses and burns. While just two industries, these two environments underscore why workers in those industries need protective apparel that’s on par with the seriousness of their environments. The Hazard Pyramid Jake Hirschi, general manager of CarbonX, a TexTech company that makes PPE and fire-resistant apparel, paints a picture of the protective apparel landscape using a metaphor he calls the “hazard pyramid.” At the pyramid’s base, you find protections against more common, albeit less deadly, threats such as welding splatter — products such as FR cottons and acrylics. Those items can still protect against severe events, such as flash fires or arc flash incidents, but the likelihood of something extreme happening is low. However, as you climb the pyramid, the threats become more lethal, and the solutions grow more specialized. “We operate at the very top of the hazard spectrum,” Hirs- chi explains. “If you could die from heat exposure or from metal splash or from fire, that’s where we are at.” When it comes to recent protective apparel innovations at the hazard pyramid’s apex, one of the most significant shifts has been a newfound appreciation for the benefits of layering that has emerged over the last seven or eight years. Rather than the mate- rials, it’s how they’re worn. The Shift to Layering Prior to that, workers might just don an aluminum jacket and cov- eralls and believe they were adequately protected. Now, there’s a deeper understanding of layering’s compounding protective effect. “It’s not just an addition, it’s a compounding effect in protec- tive capability,” Hirschi explains. “There’s also a recent recogni- tion that there’s multiple exposure.” Layering also stems from a paradigm shift in recognizing that extreme work environments are multi-exposure environments and need solutions that are designed with that in mind. For in- stance, in a steel mill, there aren’t just hazards stemming from extremely hot metal; there is also a lot of electricity in play that carries its own risks. So, an employee might face a slew of hazards: arc flashes, elec- trical threats, steam exposure, and metal splashes. Previously, safety measures approached these hazards individually when it came to the protective apparel and gear being used. “Now \[those industries\] realize those hazards are all in the same environment and that you need to have something that can withstand all of that,” Hirschi says. “So just qualifying different 16 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2023 www.ohsonline.com DedMityay/Shutterstock.com