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PERFORMANCE CLASSIFICATION AND TESTING OF
CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE SUITS

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Type 1 / Gas-Tight

Suits inflated and left to settle for 10 minutes, after the settling period the suits are topped up to test pressure and the subsequent drop in pressure in the suit recorded over a 6 minute test period. To pass, the pressure in the suit must drop by no more than 18%.

Fabrics, seams, gloves and visors must also pass chemical permeation testing and testing of their mechanical properties. 

Standards:

EN 943-1:2015+A1:2019
Suits for Industrial Use

EN943-2 (ET):2019
Suits for Emergency Response

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Type 3 / Liquid-Tight

Suits are sprayed with a single high-pressure liquid jet that targets typical weak points on a suit (seams, openings etc). An absorbent under suit is worn and checked for liquid ingress after the test.

Standard:

EN14605:2005+A1:2009

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Type 4 / Spray-Tight

Suits are worn on a turntable and sprayed from four low pressure ‘spray’ nozzles. The suit is sprayed with 4.5 litres of test liquid over one minute. An absorbent under suit is worn and checked for liquid ingress after the test.

Standard:

EN14605:2005+A1:2009

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Type 5 / Particle-Tight

Suits are worn in a dust (sea salt) chamber, with the test subject performing a set exercise pattern on a treadmill. Particle counters worn inside the suit are used to determine inward leakage.

Standard:

EN13982-1:2004+A1:2010

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Type 6 / Limited Spray-Tight

Suits are worn on a turntable and misted with a light spray of test liquid. The suit is sprayed with 1.9 litres of test liquid over one minute. An absorbent under suit is worn and checked for liquid ingress after the test.

Standard:

EN13034:2005+A1:2009

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Part-Body Protection

Type 3, 4 and 6 garments can also be approved for partial body protection (for Jackets or Aprons etc). These are classed Type PB [Type], e.g. Type PB [3] for liquid tight partial body protection 

 

Additional Protective approvals

 

Protective Clothing Against Infective Agents
EN 14126:2003

This standard defines test methods and requirements for single-use and reusable PPE providing protection against infective agents. Typical applications requiring this type of protection include handling of medical waste, sewage work etc 

There are four tests: 

  • Hydrostatic pressure test 
  • Mechanical contact with substances containing contaminated liquids 
  • Contaminated liquid aerosols 
  • Contaminated solid particles 

Clothing that has been tested and approved to EN14126 Can be given the suffix -B after the type designation (e.g. Type 3-B for a liquid tight suit that is also suitable for use with infective agents). The product user instructions must include the performance class of the garment for each of the four tests above. 

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Radioactive Particulate Protective Clothing
EN 1073-1:2016+A1:2018
EN 1073-2:2002

These two standards relate to protection from solid airborne particles, including radioactive contamination. N.B. They do not cover protection against ionizing radiation. 

1073-1 Defines test methods and requirements for air-fed protective clothing 

1073-2 is for non-air-fed protective clothing (e.g. coveralls). 

The testing is similar to that for Type 5 (particle-tight) clothing, with suits assigned a performance class and nominal protection factor based on the total inward leakage during the test. 

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Antistatic Protective Clothing
EN 1149-1:2006
EN 1149-5:2006

The EN1149 family of standards relate to the testing of electrostatic properties of materials and performance requirements for garments 

Part 1 Surface resistivity test 

Part 2 Test for resistance through a material 

Part 3 Charge decay test 

Part 5 Garment performance requirements 

For a garment to comply to EN1149-5 the material must achieve a designated performance requirement for at least one of the three electrostatic property material test methods and meet the design requirements specified within the standard.

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Chemical Warfare Agent Protection

A range of permeation/penetration test methods are available for Chemical Warfare Agents, but the most widely accepted are: 

FINABEL O.7.C - This is a qualitative test that uses the visual assessment of an indicator paper underneath the test subject that reacts in the presence of the chosen warfare agent. 

Test Operations Procedure (TOP) 8-2-501 - This test provides a quantitative measure of the amount of agent that permeates through the sample and is trapped in the collection media over a 24 hour test cycle 

LVAP - This is a quantitative test similar to TOP, but using a collection pad underneath the sample from which the permeated agent is extracted and measured. 

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PHYSICAL & MECHANICAL TESTING

We test every element of our products to ensure their safety, performance and comfort. Some testing is carried out at our factory while some is undertaken for us at specialist accredited testing laboratories. Follow the link below to learn more

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES TESTING IN DETAIL

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