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From the ubiquitous “yellow suits” seen across any chemical plant or refinery to gas-tight hazmat suits used during a hazmat incident, protective clothing is one of the most visible yet often misunderstood aspects of a PPE program. Like anything that presents a complex challenge to manage efficiently, reviewing the basics is a valuable exercise to help ensure best practices are followed that can save both lives and money.
This article addresses common questions that arise about the selection, management and budgeting for chemical protective apparel. Not intended to provide guidance on specific clothing applications, the article takes a straightforward look at some of the misconceptions and basic best-practice advice for chemical garments. This Q&A format is based on questions posed to senior leaders of the Technical Service team at Kappler, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of protective clothing. It’s based on Kappler’s decades of experience with all types of protective clothing and hazard scenarios.
What do PPE specifiers and buyers commonly overlook when selecting gear?
One of the most misunderstood aspects of protective clothing is testing, whether it’s documenting a fabric’s ability to hold out certain hazards or being familiar with the testing requirements for NFPA or other standards. Testing provides baseline apples-to-apples criteria for a suit’s performance.
The other thing many protective clothing users fail to appreciate is the importance of storage requirements which can vary widely by type of garment. Storage space alone can affect an organization’s inventory needs and can make a big impact on the planning and budgeting process.
With protective clothing users need to keep in mind additional PPE required to use the garments properly. Whether it’s boots, gloves, breathing protection or other items, rarely is a protective suit used by itself. Compatibility with other PPE is always a critical consideration.
Shelf life is another thing that is important to know. Kappler does not claim a specific shelf life for most products, but that approach varies by manufacturer and is important to understand.
The service aspects before and after purchase can often be as important as the product itself — how knowledgeable are the manufacturer’s people, and how quick to respond to questions about care and use. Responsiveness is a big factor that can literally carry life or death implications.
What tips help ensure the best performance of a suit?
Rule One: Read and follow user manual instructions. Make sure all inspections and testing are done in clean environments. Never don or doff the suit without protective matting, especially on the ground or gravel. Sock boots attached to the suit, which go inside protective boots, are very vulnerable to abrasion and puncture damage when this is not followed.
Train in the garment, or a less expensive training suit version of the suit, to understand the limitations on mobility, visibility and other factors. Also be sure to inspect any garment before use to confirm correct size and condition. And always use “the buddy system” to don and doff, which is especially critical to prevent cross-contamination issues.
Finally, always follow best practices for whatever suit or hazard scenario is involved, from proper donning all the way through to decontamination and safe doffing procedures.
What factors go into the single-use vs. reusable purchase decision?
In today’s world the term “single-use” doesn’t apply much to chemical protective garments because any suit that is contaminated should be disposed of following established protocols. It’s interesting — there is a specific NFPA apparel standard — NFPA 1999 — that addresses Emergency Medical Services and defines the garment as single-use. Those garments are specifically designed for blood, viral and other biohazards, with the idea that even potential exposure to viral and bacterial hazards makes reusing a garment too risky. Kappler makes two NFPA 1999 garments in the ProVent Plus and Lantex lines. These might be relevant to chemical and refinery industry personnel who work emergency response involving potential biohazard exposure, but for overall chemical protection work single-use doesn't really come into play.
Besides those unique biohazard garments, all Kappler suits are considered “multi-use, single-exposure”. This is a concept Kappler actually pioneered back in the 1980s. It is based on the idea that a suit that has not been exposed to hazardous materials, and not damaged in any way, is okay to wear again with proper cleaning for hygiene purposes. The term “reusable” is risky because it carries the connotation that a suit that has been contaminated can be cleaned and made safe for re-use.
The fact is there is no way to determine if a chemical hazard has permeated into the fabric itself. The only true safe practice is to properly dispose of a contaminated suit. There are always judgment calls based on the exact exposure scenario depending on the exact hazard — in certain industrial applications this may be possible, but for hazmat response there are too many unknowns to risk re-using a suit that may, in fact, be harming the user from the inside of the garment.
What should users pay attention to when evaluating suit testing results?
Whole suit testing typically only applies to certain NFPA standards where multiple aspects of garment performance are subjected to standardized protocols, and must meet certain requirements ranging from “pass or fail” or to specific quantifiable results. Fabric testing, on the other hand, applies to virtually any protective garment material, and provides a baseline indicator for a suit’s ability to protect against a certain hazard for a specific amount of time. Understanding the difference between these types of testing, and how to evaluate the results, is important for anyone specifying or using protective clothing.
For fabric testing, be sure and understand the difference between permeation and penetration testing. Both are used and can be appropriate for a given situation or for meeting a specific standard, but it’s easy to get the two confused.
With permeation data, unless specified differently, chemicals are tested at the highest concentration levels of a chemical at room temperature. Results are typically reported as breakthrough time in minutes, with 480-minute holdout the max test period per appropriate ASTM test methods. The holdout time is relevant as it relates to the expected time of exposure for a given hazard scenario.
Penetration testing is just as valid for appropriate standards and applications. A product such as Kappler’s DuraChem 200, as a unique multi-hazard, multi-certification Hi-Vis FR garment, is a good example of where penetration testing is the preferred method because it is consistent with the job functions that garment is designed for.
It is important to note that the testing methods used by different suit manufacturers are the same, based on standardized test methods and reporting data that allow apples-to-apples comparison between companies. It is also important to verify that published data is based on documented third-party testing to ensure objectivity.
Is storage life an issue for higher-level protection hazmat suits?
Kappler has determined there is no specific storage life for its chemical protection products as long as they have been properly stored and have not been contaminated or damaged. It is up to the user to have good protocols to ensure that any suit, especially an older one, is safe to use based on careful inspection, good use records and other factors.
It’s helpful that many higher-protection garments come individually packaged for ease of storage and accessibility. This makes it easier to identify suits that have not been used regardless of age. However, it’s important to remember that gas-tight suits should always be pressure-tested on receipt, and then periodically on a documented re-test schedule, so even if unused they don’t always get placed back into the original packaging.
How can buyers evaluate suit performance related to dexterity and wearer comfort?
Each user’s application and situation is different and the only way to determine those things is by evaluating a sample of the garment itself. In Kappler’s case, customers can work with our Regional Managers to request a suit for evaluation to facilitate that process. Fabric and seam samples can also be used to help determine the impact of a certain fabric on user dexterity, which definitely differs based on the level of protection a fabric and garment offer.
Comfort is a relative term since non-breathable, chemically-protective garments and fabrics represent the bulk of hazmat apparel. Certain industrial garments, such as DuraChem 200 mentioned earlier, are made of breathable protective fabrics which certainly improve the comfort factor.
Regardless of the exact garment, safe use should consider the heat stress factor. Always follow proper protocols based on specific working conditions, temperature and other factors.
What questions should buyers ask before deciding what protection level they need in a suit?
Always perform a hazard assessment — what are the hazards they expect to encounter, what is the specific scenario in terms of level of exposure and length of time exposed? Kappler offers a free app called HazMatch that provides an easy way to do this, and simultaneously save the results to meet the OSHA hazard assessment requirements.
Also consider whether you’re purchasing for a specific task or application, or should the garment be able to be used in a wide range of scenarios? Not only does this aspect of assessment help ensure a safe garment choice, it also helps to select the most cost-effective solution for the intended use without paying for more protection than needed.
How should a facility budget for hazmat vs. other chemical protection suits?
One critical aspect is the frequency of events that require hazmat suits vs. other needs and requirements of the team. And going back to the assessment aspect, think about the numbers of high-level gas-tight hazmat suits vs. less protective garments that are appropriate for less demanding activities or for decon teams and so forth. All this falls into making projections necessary to establish a realistic protective apparel budget.
For hazmat suits, this analysis could include average number of incidents per year, understanding and cataloging potential hazards within a facility, is there a yearly budget for purchasing, and similar factors. For other protective suits used in production and maintenance, consider data based on number of workers by function, the facility’s requirements based on production levels or planned maintenance schedules and other aspects to help develop good budget guidelines. Those analyses should be based on historical reviews of previous use levels — that always provides a good baseline for considering the other factors mentioned.
To learn more about how to optimize your protective clothing program contact Miller Opolka, Kappler’s Technical Products Manager, at mopolka@kappler.com, call 800-600-4019 or visit kappler.com.
