Welcome to the Westex Blog

Where we share our perspective on current trends, best practices, and the future of FR safety.

Por Dentro da Proteção Térmica: Esclareça Suas Dúvidas com Quem Entende – Segunda parte!

Este mês, abrimos espaço para quem mais importa: nossos usuários. Reunimos as dúvidas mais frequentes que recebemos sobre vestimentas de proteção térmica e preparamos respostas técnicas, claras e diretas. Sabemos que, na hora de escolher a vestimenta, surgem muitas perguntas — e estamos aqui para esclarecer cada uma delas com base em nossa experiência e compromisso com a segurança.

Vamos lá para a segunda parte de nossas dúvidas frequentes! Read More

Facing a Combustible Dust Hazard? Consider These Three Questions.

 

Amid today’s workplace safety landscape, combustible dust is a conundrum.

Dust in the workplace is unavoidable; yet, managing dust is much more than a routine housekeeping consideration. Anything from sugar to metal to rubber can produce dust, and in manufacturing settings, these dust particles can pose serious hazard risks. These risks span not only fire and flash fire but also blast and explosion scenarios. The combustible dust hazard is a multi-faceted situation with many variables and outcomes.

If your workplace contends with dust particles, ask yourself these three questions to better understand the hazards surrounding combustible dust incidents.

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Is My Employer Responsible for Providing Electrical PPE?

 

NFPA® 70E provides a system of checks and balances to account for electrical hazard safety on your job site. The hierarchy of risk controls provides safety managers and employers a host of administrative and engineering tools to help prevent arc flash incidents and mitigate injuries should an incident occur. Because the onus falls to employers, using the full range of mitigative controls available to you makes both fiscal and business sense—and one of the most effective tools available is the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

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Navigating PPE Needs Amid a Pandemic

 

If you’ve been involved in the oil & gas, electrical, or industrial manufacturing industries, chances are you’re familiar with personal protective equipment—PPE for short. PPE plays a critical role in protecting workers who face any number of job site hazards, from combustible dust, flash fire and arc flash incidents to electrical shock and fall hazards and everything in between. PPE is relevant beyond these industries, too, as a key protective asset of the medical and healthcare fields down to general housekeeping.

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Five NFPA 70E Updates to Note for Your PPE Program

 

Setting the tone for the latest edition, the 2021 NFPA® 70E® Standard cover prominently features the hierarchy of risk controls, first introduced in the 2018 edition. Recommitting and reemphasizing the importance of the hierarchy of risk controls, the cover—and the standard as a whole—draws attention to this tool, which helps the electrical industry identify risk prevention and mitigation controls for those working on energized systems. Many of the updates and changes found in the 2021 edition bring the hierarchy of risk controls into sharper focus.

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Understanding AR & FR in Protective Fabrics

What is the difference between FR and AR PPE?

 

Back when the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®) first introduced the term arc-rated (AR) in its 2012 edition of NFPA 70E®, there was confusion about how exactly it applied in the world of protective garments. Even today, questions still linger about the term and how it relates to its counterpart, flame-resistant (FR)—what is the difference between them, exactly?

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