| Heat and fire hazards present a grave potential | | | | The current OSHA law stipulates that industrial |
| for serious injury. Any type of hot work, live | | | | clothing cannot contribute to the severity of a |
| electrical equipment, or flammable vapors can | | | | burn. This came about because many fibers |
| spark an arc or flash fire. These types of fires | | | | actually aggravate heat and fire hazards. Synthetic |
| only burn for an instant, but burn at thousands of | | | | fibers, such as polyester, will melt to the skin |
| degrees and put off an immense quantity of heat | | | | under intense heat. Cloth and natural fibers will |
| energy. Due to their sudden and violent nature, | | | | continue to burn after the source of heat has |
| precautions against flash fires have to be taken | | | | dissipated. |
| before an accident occurs. | | | | Hence, industrial clothing that is made for flame |
| There are a number of safety guidelines, | | | | resistance is designed to solve these two |
| standards, and recommended personal protective | | | | problems. Using specialty threads and coatings, |
| equipment for hot work. In order to ensure | | | | flame resistant industrial products will not melt |
| maximum worker safety, let us take a moment | | | | under intense heat. Instead, they will flake away. |
| to examine today's best industry practices, | | | | This type of industrial clothing is also self |
| industrial products, and industrial clothing for dealing | | | | extinguishing, so a fire cannot continue to burn on |
| with flash fires. | | | | a worker's body. |
| Identifying Hazards | | | | Understanding The Standards |
| Flash fires have to be anticipated and prepared | | | | The NFPA 70E standard mentioned before is used |
| for. There can be no time to react if an electrical | | | | to classify electrical arc hazards for general |
| arc jumps from a piece of equipment or a vapor | | | | industry maintenance and electrical workers. Arc |
| cloud ignites. Industry standards all share a | | | | exposure is measured as the amount of electrical |
| common factor: the hazard assessment. Each | | | | energy per unit area. This provides a rating |
| code, including the National Fire Protection | | | | system for ranking the efficiency of flame |
| Association (NFPA), the National Electric Safety | | | | resistant industrial clothing. These rankings are |
| Code (NESC) and the Occupational Safety and | | | | then correlated to the NFPA hazards chart to |
| Health Administration (OSHA), emphasizes a | | | | specify proper PPE for electrical work. The NESC |
| thorough hazard assessment as the first step in | | | | standard uses the same methodology for utility |
| addressing safety concerns. | | | | workers. |
| Finding potential sources of electrical arcs and flash | | | | As of today, OSHA does not have an official law |
| fires is performed at two levels. First, safety | | | | on the book regarding flame resistant industrial |
| engineers and officers go through the work flow | | | | product standards for hot work. OSHA is |
| process in order to anticipate potential problem | | | | expanding their section 1910.269 regulations on |
| areas. Engineering solutions and changes to the | | | | Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and |
| work flow are made to address these concerns, | | | | Distribution to incorporate aspects of the NFPA |
| such as adding work guards or automating | | | | and NESC standards as enforceable law. Using |
| hazardous tasks. They are also responsible for | | | | similar calculations, the final OSHA standard will set |
| providing the proper flame resistant industrial | | | | protection guidelines in stone, creating a standard |
| clothing. | | | | set of working practices and required industrial |
| On the job, every worker has to be trained to | | | | products for individual job tasks and common |
| perform the same analysis on their own daily | | | | pieces of equipment. |
| tasks. The individual has to be aware of their | | | | Complying with the current guidelines and likely |
| surrounding work environment and when a task | | | | future laws is important for many reasons. |
| brings them into potential contact with a hazard. | | | | Ensuring workers' safety and business continuity |
| Identifying hazards and acting on them before a | | | | should always be the top priorities, regardless of |
| job is started is vital to every day safety. | | | | the current status of the law. In addition, |
| To aid in finding hazards, the NFPA 70E standard | | | | understanding and complying with current industry |
| includes a reference chart that lists common daily | | | | best practices will enable an easier transition to |
| tasks that might bring workers into a potential arc | | | | the eventual laws. |
| or flash fire hazard. These tasks are arranged by | | | | The standards are provided as useful references |
| the risks involved and what industrial clothing, PPE, | | | | for engineers and safety personnel as well as |
| industrial products, and work practices are | | | | workers in order to better understand and deal |
| necessary for the safe completion of the | | | | with fire and heat hazards. When lives are on the |
| assignment. | | | | line, having effective programs in place and |
| Flame Resistant Industrial Clothing And Industrial | | | | stocking the right industrial clothing and industrial |
| Products | | | | products will make every job site safer. |