FR dictiondary Part 1:General Terms

The first step in adequately protecting your workforce is understanding the hazards and standards that apply to your industry, as well as the products available to address them. Drotex’s helpful FR Dictionary covers the flame-resistant (FR) clothing terms and acronyms you’ll need to know in order to make informed decisions and protect your workforce.

There are five parts of the flame-resistant clothing:General Terms,Fabric Terms,FR Standards,Electrical Hazard Terms and Flash Fire Terms.

Today we'll introduce the first part:general terms.

GENERAL TERMS

Flame Resistant (FR) – A fabric or product that resists ignition and self extinguishes after removal of the ignition source

Flame Retardant – A chemical treatment applied to a flammable base fabric that gives it FR properties

Inherent – An FR fabric that is made of fibers that are flame resistant due to the chemical structure of the fibers and has not been chemically treated

Treated – An FR fabric in which flame-retardant chemicals are added to the fabric after it has been woven or knitted

Vertical Flame Test – A basic test that determines whether or not a fabric is FR by measuring how much of the fabric is consumed after 12 seconds of flame exposure

Char Length – A measurement of the damaged fabric after the Vertical Flame test