Tomax’s Flame Retardant Anti Static Workwear is made of dedicated fabric, which has the characteristics of excellent flame retardancy, permanent anti-static performance. In order to prevent the generation of static sparks, and make the charges build-up by the wearer during movement can go to the earth successfully, we must increase the naturally low “surface conductivity, or, by the same token, reduce the naturally high ”surface resistance” of the fabric. The method that Tomax take to “dissipate” the charges is to woven the conductive thread (often carbon) itself to the fabrics, it is often expressed as a grid of black (white) lines thoughout the material. And in this way, it’s effectiveness will be unchanged throughout the usable life of the garment.
Therefore, what tips should we give to the safety manager while workers are working in dangerous place?
1. Make sure that the work clothes are applied to standard EN1149, in the below table, you can see the details of part 1~ to part 5 test. The standard pictogram will be show on the clothes labels.
1. First to ask how the anti static properties are important:
It should be known that when a fabric full of static charges comes into proximity an oppositely charged surface, it will discharge suddenly with spark - we call it electrostatic discharge (ESD), which will cause the explosive atmosphere, chemical or dust that is easily ignited in the working environment to major explosion or fire in an explosive or incendiary atmosphere that could result in serious injuries, deaths and serious damage to plant. In this case, EN1149 will not be the only requirement...
2. Make sure that there is a route for the workwear to connect with earth: Regardless of fabric dissipative properties, if there is no actual route to the ground, a static charge will build and may result in a potentially dangerous spark anyway. Wearing conductive overshoes or boots that keep in contact with the work clothes and the floor will ensure that the path to the ground is maintained, and even in some critical working environments, it is necessary to clip a cable to the known grounding point on the dissipative work clothes to transfer static charges to earth harmlessly.
