Chemical Engineering July 2016 - 24

Ansell
Brass Knuckle Safety Products
Figure 3. N-FOG and N-FOG Plus anti-fog lens
coating, used on Brass Knuckle's Snap and Mega
protective eyewear lines, is tested to European
antifog standards
Chemical gloves are no excepFigure
2. Microchem by AlphaTec 68-4000 from
Ansell is a heavy-duty hazmat suit designed to
provide multi-layer barrier protection against
organic and inorganic chemicals and biological
agents
com) offers its Pyrolon CrFr disposable,
chemical-resistant and flameresistant
protective fabric. Garments
made with Pyrolon CrFr prevent
contaminating flammables like paint,
oil and grease, hazardous liquids
and contaminants and dry particulate
matter from penetrating inner
clothing and provide light-chemical
splash protection. They are self extinguishing
and won't melt or drip.
However, they should be worn over
primary fire-resistant clothing in environments
where flash fire is a concern.
" Most other chemical fabrics
aren't flame resistant and are made
of plastics, so if you expose them to
flame they will burn and melt like a
candle, " says kyle kerbow, director
of product management with Lakeland
Industries. " Pyrolon CrFr is a
spun-lace substrate that is flame resistant
with a proprietary film on the
outside so you have flame resistance
built into your chemical suit. "
Another multi-tasker, DuPont's
Tyvek 500 HV garments combine
chemical, biological and antistatic
protection with the highest class of
high visibility. (This product is currently
available only in europe.) " This
combines chemical protection and
high visibility into a single garment so
workers who need to be seen don't
have to wear a separate, reusable,
high-visibility vest or other garment, "
says Domnisch.
24
tion when it comes to multi-tasking.
Magid Glove (romeoville, Ill.; www.
magidglove.com) currently offers a
triple-polymer glove made of a blend
of nitrile, neoprene and latex so that
it can be used in many aggressive
chemical applications, allowing processors
to provide one glove for a
myriad of applications. In addition,
the company is working on chemical-resistant
gloves that are also cut
resistant. " This is a real challenge, "
explains Jim kraft, health and safety
technical specialist with Magid. " Traditionally,
if you nick or damage a
chemical-resistant glove with a cutresistant
liner, you run the risk of
chemical getting through the glove
and liner. we are currently testing a
glove that puts the cut protection on
the outside of a nitrile material glove
so the cut protection is on the outside
of the glove with the chemical
resistance beneath it. "
Worker comfort
worker comfort is another trend, and
for good reason, according to the
experts. " Anytime we can provide
a higher level of protection with enhanced
comfort that makes a garment
or piece of equipment less cumbersome,
faster to don or easier to use,
the more likely it is that workers will
be compliant, " says Dominisch. " It's a
win for the worker and the employer
when we can make PPe more protective
and more comfortable. "
when it comes to CPC, the experts
at Ansell (Iselin, N.J.; www.
ansell.com) focus on features and
details that make their chemical
protective suits safer and more user
friendly. For example, Microchem
by AlphaTec 68-4000 (Figure 2) is a
heavy-duty hazmat suit designed to
provide multi-layer barrier protection
against organic and inorganic chemicals
and biological agents. It offers
a double-zip system and a doublecuff
design to ensure tight seals that
increase chemical protection, even
if workers are moving around, lifting
their hands and squatting down.
In addition, says Dana HammerFritzinger,
senior global product
manager for protective clothing with
Ansell, the company offers other
worker comfort features, such as a
hands-free visor light system for its
Trellchem suits. The short-throw illumination
system is designed to offer
improved visibility and a safer working
environment via panoramic lighting
that spreads light through a wide
area with no risk of blinding reflections.
" The LeD visor light enhances
visibility of the surroundings, allowing
workers to do their job faster and
safer, " she says.
Another area of concern in the
chemical process industries (CPI)
is fogging of eyewear, so anti-fog
glasses and goggles are currently a
large worker comfort and safety issue.
However, what you see is not always
what you get, warns Tony Spearing,
vice president with Brass knuckle
Safety Products (Alpharetta, Ga.;
www.brassknuckleprotection.com).
" For any worker in any environment,
one of the most important things is
that an employee wears eyewear that
provides clear vision at all times. But
the challenge with anti-fog eyewear in
the U.S. is that there is currently no
anti-fog standard for safety glasses.
So, when you purchase safety eyewear
marketed as having anti-fog
properties, some can perform well
and others, not so well. "
He says that there is a european
standard, eN 166/168, and some
companies, such as his own, test
safety eyewear against this standard.
" our N-FoG and N-FoG Plus
anti-fog lens coating is tested to this
standard and the duration to which
our products perform against the
standard is from 1,500 to 4,300%
longer than what is dictated, " says
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com july 2016
http://www.magidglove.com http://www.brassknuckleprotection.com http://www.ansell.com http://www.Chemengonline.Com
Chemical Engineering July 2016

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