GLS: New Lightweight Chemical Suits For Industry

18 October 2017

The principle behind the development of the GLS range of suits was the changing demographic of today's workforce. With people living longer and retiring later, the average age of European workers is increasing. In some cases the physical burden of the work undertaken has become a limiting factor. In Germany the employer's insurance regulations (G26) specify that where suits in excess of 5kg are to be worn, the workforce are required to undergo a comprehensive health screening program, which reduces the pool or available workers and further increases costs.

The German Plant Fire Association (VFDB) approached a number of manufacturers with a set of requirements for a new generation of single-use, lightweight Type 3 (liquid tight) chemical suits that are gas-tight to ISO 17491-1:2012 Method 2 (the gas-tightness inflation standard for protective clothing) and suitable for use in potentially explosive environments.

Respirex™ developed a new range of three suits to meet these requirements - The GLS 300A an encapsulating suit with Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) worn inside the suit, the GLS 300B for SCBA worn outside the suit, a face-mask and filter or airline respirator and the GLS 300C an air-fed suit used with breathable air from an external compressor.

Respirex™, in collaboration with the VFDB, worked with the DEKRA testing laboratory to develop a new standard, DEKRA FRM 90.166.0 and suits are CE certified to this and the European PPE Regulation (EU) 2016\425.

The GLS range of suits are only possible due to the advances in modern multiple layer barrier fabrics such as Chemprotex™ 300. The fabric offers a lighter weight and more comfortable suits, compared to a more traditional Viton® based material, whilst offering greater permeation resistance against a broad range of chemicals.

Suits made from Chemprotex™ fabrics also come with access to Permasure®, an online toxicity modelling application that calculates safe working times for over 4,000 chemicals, which is also now available for Android and Apple devices.

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