Fall is a time of year when weather conditions can vary widely – from sun to rain to snow depending on your location. Rainwear is FR protection that is frequently overlooked but can be a much desired item of clothing by your workers as colder temperatures and wet weather roll in.
ASTM F2733 is the specification that establishes test methods, minimum physical and thermal performance criteria, a suggested sizing guide and suggested purchasing information for rainwear for use by workers who are potentially exposed to industrial hydrocarbon fires or other petrochemical fire hazards. The intent of this standard is to outfit workers with products that will lower the percentage of body burn and burn severity from a 3 second flash fire, thereby increasing survivability.
The National Fire Protection Association defines flash fire as, “A fire that spreads rapidly through a diffuse fuel, such as dust, gas or vapors of an ignitable liquid, without production of damaging pressure.” Flash fires are characterized by high temperature, short duration and a rapidly moving flame front.
In fact, NFPA 2112 is often seen as the parallel, or complementary, standard to ASTM F2733 as both set forth minimum requirements to maximize protection for workers facing flash fire hazards. NFPA 2112 is for work shirts, pants and coveralls while ASTM F2733 is specific to rainwear.
Some of the performance requirements of ASTM F2733 are outlined below:
NASCO Industries is a leading manufacturer of FR raingear in the USA. Watch their test of flash fire raingear according to ASTM F2733:
Information used in this post was pulled in November 2013 from:
(1) http://www.nascoinc.com/standards/flash_fire/NASCO_PW%20ASTM%20F2733%20Summary%202009.pdf