Personal protective clothing: ensuring worker safety
Personal protective clothing offers a practical solution to eliminating, or at least minimising, the risk of accidents, injuries or infection in the workplace. More specifically, it provides an effective safeguard against hazards such as extreme temperatures, fire, potentially dangerous objects and harmful substances. The main categories of protective clothing include chemical and hazardous material (hazmat) clothing, clean room clothing, combat uniforms, cut resistant workwear, flame resistant workwear, high visibility apparel, medical protective clothing and multi-functional protective wear. Fibre types employed include aramids, cotton, modacrylic, polyamide, polybenzimidazole (PBI), polypropylene, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and Vectran. Leading brands of fibres and fabrics used in protective clothing include Cordura Baselayer fabric, Gore Chempak Selectively Permeable Fabric, Defender M, Kermel, Kevlar, Nomex, ProShield, Protera, Sungrazer, Tychem and Tyvek.
Growing concerns about worker safety on the one hand and increasing instances of terror attacks and epidemics on the other have raised awareness about the need for personal protection. This awareness, coupled with rising costs associated with workplace injuries, has resulted in a growing emphasis on compliance with health and safety regulations and performance standards for protective apparel and accessories.
Technological advances in the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry have led to the development of products which not only meet these stringent performance standards but also offer advances in comfort and style. Such advances have helped to increase the proportion of end users who comply with health and safety regulations.
Looking ahead, one of the main challenges is that of cheap imports from Asia—many of which do not comply with rigid specifications in the West. These are proving to be a menace for suppliers of high performance PPE and are limiting market revenues for the industry as a whole. Nonetheless, rising demand for high performance products which are user-friendly will help to drive growth in the market, and those companies which are able to satisfy the need for increasingly sophisticated PPE should thrive as a result. PPE is a necessity rather than an option in many services and industries, notably those in which worker safety is at risk. The market should therefore enjoy a viable future as legislation becomes more stringent in developed countries, and as industrialisation progresses and legislation is introduced in developing countries.
Growing concerns about worker safety on the one hand and increasing instances of terror attacks and epidemics on the other have raised awareness about the need for personal protection. This awareness, coupled with rising costs associated with workplace injuries, has resulted in a growing emphasis on compliance with health and safety regulations and performance standards for protective apparel and accessories.
Technological advances in the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry have led to the development of products which not only meet these stringent performance standards but also offer advances in comfort and style. Such advances have helped to increase the proportion of end users who comply with health and safety regulations.
Looking ahead, one of the main challenges is that of cheap imports from Asia—many of which do not comply with rigid specifications in the West. These are proving to be a menace for suppliers of high performance PPE and are limiting market revenues for the industry as a whole. Nonetheless, rising demand for high performance products which are user-friendly will help to drive growth in the market, and those companies which are able to satisfy the need for increasingly sophisticated PPE should thrive as a result. PPE is a necessity rather than an option in many services and industries, notably those in which worker safety is at risk. The market should therefore enjoy a viable future as legislation becomes more stringent in developed countries, and as industrialisation progresses and legislation is introduced in developing countries.
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
THE MARKET FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Factors affecting the market
Trends in the market for personal protective equipment
Key players in the personal protective equipment industry
HAZARDS IN THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND THEIR EFFECTS
MAIN CATEGORIES OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
Chemical and hazardous material (hazmat) clothing
Clean room clothing
Combat uniforms
Cut resistant workwear
Flame resistant workwear
Firefighters' clothing
High visibility apparel
Fluorescent materials
Reflective materials
Light emitting diodes (LEDs)
Fabric and fibre types
European standard
Medical protective clothing
Multi-functional protective wear
FIBRES USED IN PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
High performance fibres used in protective clothing
Aramid fibres
Olefins
Polyamide
Polybenzimidazole
Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)
Vectran
BRANDS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE FIBRES AND FABRICS USED IN PROTECTIVE
CLOTHING
Cordura Baselayer fabric
Gore Chempak Selectively Permeable Fabric
Defender M
Kermel
Kevlar
Nomex
ProShield
Protera
Sungrazer
Tychem
Tyvek
STANDARDS
LEGISLATION
Personal Protective Equipment legislation
In Europe
Personal Protective Equipment legislation
In the USA
Regulatory compliance
OUTLOOK
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Types of hazards and related personal protective equipment (PPE) options
Table 2: Projected growth in the US market for safety and protective products, 2007-12
Table 3: Estimated growth in the European personal protective equipment market by selected country and region, 2009
Table 4: Number of fatal injuries in the UK by sector, year ending April 1, 2009
Table 5: Properties of protective clothing materials by fibre type
Table 6: European PPE standards
Table 1: Types of hazards and related personal protective equipment (PPE) options
Table 2: Projected growth in the US market for safety and protective products, 2007-12
Table 3: Estimated growth in the European personal protective equipment market by selected country and region, 2009
Table 4: Number of fatal injuries in the UK by sector, year ending April 1, 2009
Table 5: Properties of protective clothing materials by fibre type
Table 6: European PPE standards
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Composition of the global market for personal protective equipment (PPE) by product type
Figure 2: Workplace injuries in the USA by type
Figure 3: Cut resistance of Kevlar relative to leather and cotton
Figure 1: Composition of the global market for personal protective equipment (PPE) by product type
Figure 2: Workplace injuries in the USA by type
Figure 3: Cut resistance of Kevlar relative to leather and cotton
