December 22, 2011 by Austin Cushing.

The 2012 edition of NFPA 2112, Standard on Flame-Resistant Garments for Protection of Industrial Personnel against Flash Fire, 2012 Edition became effective August 31, 2011. These revisions mostly consisted of updates to specific standard requirements, and clarifications of existing wording. Specific changes are as follows:

Garment label wording now highlights the requirement for garments to provide upper and lower body protection in order to be fully compliant with the standard. Specifically, this emphasizes that NFPA 2112 compliant shirts or pants worn alone does not provide adequate protection. The standard now also acknowledges that garment ignition and resultant wearer injury from flammable clothing can result from any type of fire (jet flames, liquid pool fires, solid fires, etc) and not just from flash fires.

The 2012 edition also added a section relating to the topic of cold weather protective garments, which may result in more insulated garments becoming NFPA 2112 certified in the future. As part of this, it requires that garments with multiple separable layers (for example, a liner that can be removed from a certified jacket and worn as a stand-alone garment) must be tested and certified in all wearable configurations. It also establishes a separate thermal shrinkage requirement at a maximum of 20% for cold weather insulation material, which may result in more options to lower price or improve performance of existing outerwear lining.

The thermal protective performance test (TPP) was updated to specify the use of ASTM Standard Test Method 2700. The thermal insulation value will now be called HTP (heat transfer performance) instead of TPP. The TPP test method was revised to show that the result is only a measure of heat transfer and not a predictor of skin burn injury. The test apparatus and test results obtained from it are unchanged. Test reports for spaced and contact testing are still required.

Other updates included a  new requirement that zipper tape must be made from inherently FR fiber, clarification that the maximum allowable 50% predicted body burn requirement on testing is based on the total surface area of the mannequin covered by sensors and excludes the hands and feet (which are not instrumented), revisions to the laundering procedures used to test flame resistant fabric durability to include additional rinse cycles, and a slight increase in the weight of the 100% cotton undergarments worn by the instrumented mannequin during flash fire testing.

These changes do not significantly impact our ability to provide high quality compliant flame resistant garments to our customers at affordable prices. 

Posted in Industrial, Flame-Resistant, American Work Safety | No Comments »

November 11, 2011 by Austin Cushing.

Work gloves are the unsung heroes of the working man. Depending on your job, a good set of gloves can enhance your grip, protect your hands from cuts and abrasions, keep out water and chemicals, help you be seen at night, or even resist extremes of heat and molten metal. When supplying your facility, work gloves should always be on the list.

Freight handling and general maintenance tasks are easier with a pair of brown jersey gloves. They are highly inexpensive when  bought by the dozen, and are good for preventing harm from minor cuts, splinters, and other minor injuries one might expect from light industrial work. They are also excellent for use in refrigerated areas to help keep your hands warm and reduce slipping. Versions with PVC dots added to the gripping surfaces increase slip resistance and grip even further, making for much better efficiency and reducing accidents.

When you need better hand protection for heavier duty applications, a sturdy pair of leather palm gloves is just what you need. While they aren’t quite as comfortable as jersey gloves, you can always wear jersey gloves as a liner for comfort while retaining the superior grip, protection, and durability of the leather work glove. Like jersey gloves, they are a staple of industrial sites and are sold by the dozen.

Anchortex Corporation and American Work Safety are dedicated to providing a wide range of personal protective equipment to meet OSHA requirements, ensure the safety of your workers, and reduce costs incurred by on-the-job injuries. Contact us today for a personal consultation with one of our sales representatives.

Posted in Industrial, American Work Safety, Uncategorized | No Comments »

July 22, 2011 by Austin Cushing.

With temperatures soaring into triple digits, the hazards of the heat are numerous. Dehydration from oversweating means that workers must frequently drink water or electrolytes to rehydrate. Heat exhaustion and heatstroke can occur as body temperature rises due to the temperature. Heat rashes can form due to skin irritation from excesesive sweating. Heat cramps can cause muscle pains due to heavy exercise in hot weather. With all of these hazards from the heat, one might assume that a quick dip in very cold water or stepping into a walk-in freezer might be a good way to beat the heat. This is not as good an idea as it sounds.

While cool compresses and immersion in cool water are a good way to cool down quickly, one must be careful; too much of a temperature shift can cause a cold shock response, as veins abruptly constrict to retain body heat to prevent cold blood from reaching your heart. This can be very hazardous to your health, and can even cause organ failure and death in extreme cases.

So what can you do to beat the heat? First, make sure to drink plenty of water and consume more sodium than usual, as water and salts are drained from the body when you sweat. If your job requires working in the heat - for example, construction workers or warehouse crew - a cooler/dispenser with a push-button spigot, filled with ice and water or electrolyte drink made from powdered mix, can be every bit as vital a safety investment as a hard hat or a high-visibility vest. You may also want to invest in cooling vests and other heat stress gear to help keep you cool without causing extreme temperature shifts that can be hazardous.

Do you work in an industrial cooler or freezer? Don’t be tempted to skip your freezer wear just because it’s hot outside! Wear insulated gloves, freezer vests, and freezer boots when working in these icy environments, and remove them as soon as you leave. It may be tedious, but maintaining a consistent body temperature will ensure that you don’t suffer from shock when you go in or come out.

Maintaining your health in the heat can be a serious challenge. However, with the right work equipment to keep you cool, and adequate hydration to replenish what sweat takes away, you should be able to manage this summer, no matter what your workplace and the weather have to throw at you.

Posted in Industrial, American Work Safety, Alerts, Articles | No Comments »

April 5, 2011 by Austin Cushing.

Our Commercial > Arc Flash Protective Clothing section is expanding, with more items available for direct sale in every category, and two new categories for information’s sakes: the NFPA 70E Compliance FAQ and NFPA 70E Arc Flash Training Videos. Has your company performed their annual hazard / risk evaluation audit yet? Anchortex Corporation can help meet your personal protective equipment needs with everything from arc flash suits and electrical safety gloves to hard hats, face shields, and ear plugs. Contact our sales department today to request a quote for your facility’s needs.

Posted in Arc Flash, Industrial, Flame-Resistant, Site Updates, Alerts | No Comments »

February 4, 2011 by Austin Cushing.

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As you may be aware, employees working on or in close proximity to high-voltage electrical equipment are required to wear protective clothing, rated by hazard risk category. This personal protective equipment is required for compliance with OSHA and NFPA 70E standards, and can be cumbersome to wear. But is it really necessary?

In a word, yes. Anyone who has witnessed a lightning strike has ample evidence of the awesome and terrible power of an electrical arc, and even low levels of electrical current are enough to injure or kill an unprotected individual. Electrocutions in the workplace cause over four hundred deaths per year, and arc flash blasts can rival conventional explosives in their devastating effects on an area. An arc flash creates intense radiant heat and light in addition to explosive force, which can burn or blind unprotected individuals even if they are not directly struck by the electrical arc.

The best way to prevent arc flash hazards, of course, is to de-energize electrical equipment before servicing it in any fashion. However, the act of de-energizing equipment (throwing the switch on a circuit breaker, for example) is itself an arc flash hazard and lock-out/tag-out procedures to deactivate industrial equipment should not be performed without personal protective apparel specifically rated for the task.

Most people know that when handling electrical equipment, they should wear rubber gloves. More specifically, however, rubber gloves should be voltage-rated and tested for the maximum line-to-line voltage on which they will be working; furthermore, leather protective exterior gloves must be worn over them if they are to be used under conditions in which they could be damaged (by being scratched up, for example.) Furthermore, the NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee
Workplaces requires semi-annual glove testing to ensure that gloves continue to perform as expected.

All arc flash PPE requirements also include safety glasses to protect the eyes, a hard hat to provide protection against head injuries, leather safety shoes to reduce grounding, and natural-fiber long-sleeved shirts and pants to provide a basic level of flame resistance. This is the base level of protection considered for ‘everyday work clothing’ upon which additional protective clothing is added to provide a protective solution. NFPA 70E rates various tasks in terms of HRC (hazard risk category) levels from 0 to 4, where 0 is ‘no added protection’ - the aforementioned minimum requirements - and 4 is required for circumstances involving working on energized high-voltage equipment, for example.

For worker safety, employers are required to fully evaluate and document electrical hazards, train employees in understanding these hazards, establish a flash protection boundary, restrict access to systems within this boundary to trained employees with proper protective gear and written authorization, institute lockout/tagout procedures on energized equipment before servicing it (with certain exceptions for life-critical equipment), and audit safety procedures annually. In short, this means ‘do not flip the switch on the 480 volt circuit breaker at your workplace unless you are specifically trained in the hazards, have proper protective apparel, and have written authorization to do so.’ The cost of doing otherwise could very well be your life.

For full compliance with OSHA and NFPA 70E requirements, visit our arc flash protective gear section on americanworksafety.com for arc-rated protective apparel and equipment, or contact our sales department to request quotes on personal protective equipment for your facility, department, or organization. The life you save may be your own.

Posted in Arc Flash, Industrial, American Work Safety, Articles | 1 Comment »

November 29, 2010 by Austin Cushing.

Anchortex Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Refrigiwear insulated boots and cold weather gloves to its online offering. Don’t get caught in the cold - check out our Refrigiwear products for direct purchase or request a quote for your company or institution today!

Posted in Industrial, Alerts | No Comments »

October 24, 2010 by Austin Cushing.

Guess what time it is? That’s right, it’s getting closer to winter, and time to prepare against the worst the environment can throw at you. You’ve already gotten furnace filters for your home, made sure your car’s emergency kit is in order, and gotten a new snow shovel and road salt in case the weather gets out of hand. But have you remembered to prepare yourself for the winter?

With weather conditions growing progressively more extreme over the past decade, those who live in particularly cold climates with long commutes, or those who are stuck working outdoors, need to make certain that they have good insulated workwear that is waterproof and weatherproof. Industrial workers will find insulated coats and coveralls invaluable as temperatures plummet as low as -50° or worse. Police and security personnel will benefit from outerwear and rainwear built to meet the needs of personal comfort while not inhibiting their ability to respond to dangerous situations. Those working outdoors may also stand to improve their safety and meet ANSI specifications with high visibility outerwear. Practically anyone can benefit from an insulated boot to round out their work ensemble.

After you’ve winterized your work wardrobe, what about your personal health? Flu season is here, and for those at risk of contamination, the front line of defense for disease prevention is keeping clean. Antibacterial soaps are useful additions to your bathroom, kitchen sink, and hand sanitizers are invaluable for use in locations where handwashing is not possible. Many businesses now use wall-mounted dispensers to keep their customers healthy and clean when handling potentially unsanitary materials.

Now is the time to prepare for winter - so be sure that you have what you need to stay warm and healthy. Last year, we saw supplies of hand sanitizer sell out for upwards of four months throughout the winter, and winter clothing and supplies sell out in mid-January; there’s no telling when the next pandemic or blizzard may arrive, so stock up today while supplies last!

Posted in Industrial, Police and Security, Articles | No Comments »

October 11, 2010 by Austin Cushing.

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As the cold season approaches, construction workers, station attendants, highway patrol officers, utility servicemen, public safety personnel, and practically any profession that needs to spend large amounts of time near high-traffic areas starts looking for solutions to keep them easily visible while still remaining safe and warm. Fortunately, a wide variety of high-visibility outerwear exists to fill this important niche.

If you work in an area where wind and rain are more likely problems than sleet and snow, or you just need a good jacket that will withstand reasonably cool days, you can’t go wrong with a high visibility three-season jacket such as the Lakeland C3SA. As the title suggests, it is recommended for use from fall to spring, and it fulfills ANSI Class III high-visibility requirements. Zippered front pockets protect important supplies while keeping them close at reach. This is a good entry-level jacket for someone who needs a year-round solution, doesn’t want to wear an awkward vest over a bulkier coat, and wants to ensure full ANSI compliance. Depending on the materials, a three-season jacket can run up to $120 or more (such as for this Carhartt jacket); our Lakeland model, on the other hand, runs a modest $74.85 - a bargain for you or the whole team.

Of course, colder winters call for warmer high visibility coats, and this is where the Occunomix LUX-TJFS Five In One Coat and Bodywarmer excels. It consists of an outer two-layer coat (independently certified to ANSI Class III specifications, weatherproof, and including its own hood) and an inner three-layer Bodywarmer that itself qualifies as a class II garment, and also has an outer layer of 100% weatherproof PVC-coated polyester. They can be worn separately or together as the situation fits, while comfortably protecting the wearer in practically any weather condition. This OccuLux High Visibility Fluorescent Yellow 5-In-1 Coat And Bodywarmerretails on Amazon.com for $174.74; our price of $134.85 means you save almost $40 per coat.

Of course, if you happen to be working in extremely cold conditions, a normal coat or jacket simply won’t do. For times like these, you need something like our Refrigiwear 344L2 High-Visibility Thermal Coverall, a full-body protective solution rated to keep you warm and dry down to temperatures of -50° Fahrenheit, while providing maximum visibility in any situation. Of course, for those of you who work in the utilities or petrochemical industries in cold-weather climates, who have just as much to fear from both fire and ice, the Refrigiwear 7030THV Tecasafe Plus High-Visibility Flame Resistant Coverall comes with an ATPV arc rating of 41 cal/cm2 (NFPA 70E Hazard Risk Category 4), while still protecting you from the cold down to -20° Fahrenheit.

While jackets and coats will protect your body, you also need a good pair of gloves to protect your hands. Thinsulate gloves set the standard for hand protection in cold weather, andLakeland’s High-Visibility Thinsulate Reflective Gloves set the standard for high-visibility gloves, combining a bright lime-yellow exterior with reflective striping for the ultimate in high-visibility while keeping your hands warm and dry.

Now that you’re all bundled up for the winter, don’t neglect your head! High visibility knit caps like the Lakeland Hi-Vis Knit Cap provide an extra level of warmth and protection - and an extra level of visibilty and reflectivity, for those times when every square inch counts.

We at Anchortex Corporation salute the men and women who spend every day outdoors keeping our nation’s infrastructure running, no matter what the weather, and we are proud to do our part to ensure that these people get the high-visibility apparel they need for every season of the year. Looking to outfit an entire department, team, or crew at once? Contact us for information about volume pricing on these and other high-visibility items and lock in your price today while supplies last.

Posted in High Visibility, Industrial, Flame-Resistant, Articles | No Comments »

September 21, 2010 by Austin Cushing.

Anchortex Corporation is having a Work Pants Blowout Sale! We have a large quantity of work pants in our warehouse that we need to clear out before October 15th to make room for 2011 inventory. These work pants are typically used by major industrial, retail, and correctional facilities as part of a low-cost uniform solution; they are available in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes to meet the varying needs of our regular customer base. Our regular prices on these items are between $16.85 and $21.85 plus shipping through our webstore; we’ve been authorized to push this inventory out the door by any means necessary, which means delivered pricing of $12.90 or less.

For more information, check out our Inventory Clearance page to see what we still have in stock, and take advantage of this rare offer to stock your facility, store, or other venue. Offer ends October 15th or when all items are sold! Minimum quantities apply. Prices only valid on inventory items in required minimum quantities; for other quantities or items, visit our Red Kap section or contact an Anchortex sales representative.

Posted in Industrial, Sale, Correctional | 1 Comment »