ANSI/ISEA 107-2020 is the latest update of the ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 revision which is the American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear. An area of the standard that remains is the Flame Resistance (FR) portion. This doesn’t mean that all High Visibility Safety Apparel (HVSA) must be FR, but it does mean that if HVSA is marketed as compliant with ANSI 107, the garment must meet specific FR standards in order to claim Flame Resistance on the ANSI 107 label.
An area of the standard that remains is the Flame Resistance (FR) portion. This doesn’t mean that all High Visibility Safety Apparel (HVSA) must be FR, but it does mean that if HVSA is marketed as compliant with ANSI 107, the garment must meet specific FR standards in order to claim Flame Resistance on the ANSI 107 label.
The reason for the inclusion of the Flame Resistance portion is to overcome the confusion in the marketplace regarding what is and what isn’t FR. The concern originated with vests marketed as “FR” that are made of polyester and treated with a flame inhibitor. Although these vests are often tested to ASTM D6413, a vertical flame test, and have a flame out less than or equal to 2 seconds and a char length less than 6 inches after removal of the ignition source, they are not close to the equivalent performance of products that are considered FR clothing.
End users wearing FR clothing were putting on these FR vests and believing they were protected, when in reality if they were exposed to either an electric arc or flash fire, the vest they were wearing would become a safety hazard. Although appropriate for applications like welding, a treated polyester vest will become molten, melt and drip onto the wearer in an electric arc or flash fire situation.
For that reason and at the request of many end users, Flame Resistance Standards were included in the ANSI 107 standard. If compliant HVSA is to be marketed as Flame Resistant, it must be compliant with one of the following standards specifically referenced in the ANSI 107 standard. Those standards include ASTM F1506, NFPA 70E, NFPA 2112, ASTM F1891, ASTM F2733, ASTM F2302, NFPA 1971 and NFPA 1977.
To read about the changes from ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 to 2020. Read the ANSI Blog post here.
The 2015 and 2020 revision require all HVSA to be labeled as either FR or Not FR next to the pictogram of the garment. The label must also include a statement that the garment is not Flame Resistant as defined by ANSI/ISEA 107-2015, or that it is Flame Resistant and the standard it meets. (A separate label for NFPA 1977 and NFPA 2112 is required).
Written by Brian Nutt, Product Director for Protective Clothing at Tingley.
Tingley products are available at Safety Products Inc. View our other blog articles related to Personal Protection Equipment.
