Workrite Tech Notes

The NFPA 2112/2113 committee finished its most recent meeting last Wednesday. The four key areas of focus were:

1. Review of proposals for the next edition of NFPA 2113. There were a number of proposals reviewed and the committee made suggested actions on each. One proposal of note was suggesting the title of the standard itself be changed. The proposal was to change the words “Flash Fire” to “Short Duration Thermal Exposure.” The committee had a relatively long discussion, but came to a consensus that changing the title more accurately reflects the types of hazard experienced in the field. A flash fire is just one type of thermal exposure that FR garments can protect against and therefore the committee wanted readers to not lose focus of that fact.

2. In section 4.2.3 (1), ‘thermal intensity’ was added to ‘duration and magnitude’ as an additional variable to consider when performing a hazard assessment. This lets those performing hazard assessments account for the fact that different fuels and different conditions can change the thermal intensity along with the size and duration of a short duration thermal exposure.

3. The committee also discussed the type of testing that should be used for insulation materials, since putting these materials through all the same testing as the shell fabric is not necessary and will not allow suitable insulation materials to become compliant. Task groups were formed to propose wording that will address this issue. These proposals will then be submitted as Temporary Interim Amendments (TIA’s) so insulated products can be submitted for compliance sooner, rather than waiting for the next revision cycle.

4. Lastly, the committee discussed the effect of adding external emblems and name tags to NFPA 2112 certified garments by someone other than the garment manufacturer. The committee agreed that this is not a problem as long as they follow the statement shown in section 4.3.6 of NFPA 2113 “Non-flame-resistant heraldry attached to the exterior of the garment (e.g. logos, name tags, non-flame-resistant silk-screened artwork, etc.) shall be kept to a minimum, both in surface area and number.” The certifying agency certifies the garments as they are produced and it is the users/employers responsibility to follow NFPA section 4.3.6.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me: msaner@workrite.com