It is important to recognize that in the event of a momentary electric arc flash, flash fire
or molten metal splash exposure, the FR fabric used to construct the garment is a critical factor in determining the amount of protection the garment will afford the wearer. The critical nature of flame resistant protective clothing fabrics requires that extensive testing at independent laboratories be carried out to evaluate the protective capabilities these fabrics exhibit when exposed to electric arc flash and flash fire hazards. Kinectrics (for electric arc flash) and the University of Alberta (for flash fire) are examples of independent laboratories that specialize in testing fabrics for performance from these hazards. In addition, end-users may want to analyze the performance of FR fabrics for their specific hazard potential. This is common in molten metal applications and one large electric utility company actually conducted electric arc flash evaluations for their unique situation.
INDURA Ultra Soft and INDURA fabrics have proven in testing to industry standards at independent laboratories and also conducted by end-users to provide industry leading multi-purpose protection. Westex, Inc. continually tests INDURA Ultra Soft and INDURA fabrics for electric arc performance at Kinectrics to ASTM D-1959 and flash fire performance at the University of Alberta to the guidelines of NFPA 2112 and ASTM F1930 test method. End-users have independently tested Westex fabrics to their specific hazard, in this case molten ferrous metal splash. Testing by a large electric utility has been conducted at Kema laboratories to better understand the performance of INURA Ultra Soft fabrics to their unique under and above ground electric hazards.
