A number of things can happen with fabrics and materials are exposed to flame - they can burn, melt, drip, carbonize, evaporate...lots of things. When it comes to personal protective equipment, you want to make sure the fabric used will not cause your more harm if exposed to flame. The most common way a garment causes secondary injury is by melting to you skin when exposed to flame. Here is an example of a commonly used style of glove being exposed to a flame (branding removed, performed in a closed setting by professionals).
Another common failure in PPE is ignition of the garment when exposed to flame. This creates an obvious hazard, however it's still very common to see folks working around open flame with gloves made from flammable materials (branding removed, performed in a closed setting by professionals).
The future of the skilled trades and DIY home and auto work is gloves and garments that mitigate the risk of primary and secondary injury to the wearer. Flame resistant fabrics are currently more expensive than traditional fabrics such as polyester or nylon, leading to the reduced adoption of higher quality FR fabrics like modacrylic, aramids and OPAN. The video below shows the AzoShield 211 FR Glove being exposed to the same flame as seen in the previous clips. All garments will eventually degrade and fail given enough heat and time, but importantly this next clip highlights the importance of a glove that does not ignite, drip or melt (branding removed, performed in a closed setting by professionals).
Which glove do you want to be wearing when things get hot? Let us know in the comments what you would use a flame resistant mechanic-style glove for.
Comments