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ISEA is inviting public review of its draft standard for chemical protective clothing
09/28/2009
The ISEA draft standard for chemical protective clothing is now available for public review and comment. Draft ANSI/ISEA 103-200x is designed to help users select the appropriate protective apparel for a variety of chemical hazards, providing minimum performance classifications and labeling requirements. It provides manufacturers with requirements for testing, categorizing, and labeling chemical protective clothing, as well as performance levels for certification.
In the first round of consensus and public review, ISEA received numerous comments on the standard, and has made substantive changes to the draft as a result. Among these are the inclusion of a requirement for certification and recertification garments, as well as changes to testing criteria. Comments on the revised draft are due to ISEA by November 9, 2009.
Members of ISEA Protective Apparel Group developed this standard to present a testing philosophy based on garment category and performance level. This approach was modeled after activities ongoing within the European (CEN) and international (ISO) standards communities, and represents one of the first attempts at harmonizing testing and labeling of chemical protective clothing worldwide. Garment categories (e.g., US Category 1, gas-tight) are defined by matching the expected chemical exposure scenario with various material swatch and finished garment item test requirements.
| Categories of Chemical Protective Clothing | |
| Category 1 | Gas tight suit (breathing air supply worn inside the suit) |
| Category 2 | Gas tight suit (with breathing air supply worn outside the suit) |
| Category 3 | Liquid tight suit (full body) |
| Category 4 | Clothing resistant to pressure-sprayed liquids |
| Category 5 | Particulate tight (full body) |
| Category 6 | Full- or partial-body clothing and limited spray-tight clothing |
This standard uses multiple performance levels (e.g., three levels of performance for permeation testing) for the majority of properties. Thus the standard will provide the end-user with a tool that helps define adequate protection by matching a unique exposure scenario to a specific garment configuration (category) and a minimum level of performance (level).
According to ISEA manager of membership and standards services Cristine Fargo, "This standard will fill a gap in that's existed since OSHA issued its regulations for personal protective equipment." OSHA requires employers to conduct documented hazard assessments in the workplace, and select personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriate to the hazard. "Although OSHA provides references to performance-based standards for certain types of PPE such as eye and face protection, until now there has been no consensus standard for the majority of chemical protective clothing worn by the US workforce," Fargo said.
Contact Cristine Fargo for a review copy of the draft. There is a $30 charge, payable by check or credit card.