Mobility in Arc Flash PPE

By: Rich Gojdics

As we close out another winter in Chicago, we’re approaching the time of year when we turn in winter coats for lighter jackets. While still not out of the woods yet, the warmer weather and bad memories of Polar Vortexes past, it made us think about an important consideration as it pertains to electrical personal protective equipment (PPE).

If you’ve ever seen the movie A Christmas Story, you likely remember the ‘preparing for school’ scene, in which Ralphie’s little brother is dressed in layer upon layer of clothing. After the comedic ordeal, he responds “I can’t put my arms down!” In another scene, the same child is knocked down by a bully and can’t get up. More comedic relief.

While overblown, this brings up a much more practical topic—PPE mobility.

High Risk, Low Mobility: A Dangerous Combination

When an electrical worker dons arc flash PPE, he or she is working in a tense situation. The more energy the hazard can release, the more protection a worker needs, which usually means thicker, heavier weight and less mobile apparel. Unfortunately for these workers, the required improvements to the protection are at the expense of comfort, mobility, and dexterity. As discussed in our blog on the importance of visibility, the more protective certain gear is, the less usable.

Donning PPE CAT 4 gear, workers may not have the “I can’t move my arms” moment, but they may have an “I can’t move my arms in the way that I’d like to” moment.

We understand that PPE isn’t meant to be fashion wear. However, when an employee can’t move in the way he or she feels is best, it hampers the ability to do the job and may even deter employees from wearing the appropriate PPE for the circumstances.

Beyond the Bulk: Providing Employees with Functional and Comfortable PPE

Safety is the top priority of any PPE initiative. However, as discussed in an earlier blog, one of the top five reasons employees avoid wearing PPE is the lack of comfort. It’s well documented—you can buy the equipment, enforce its use, and employees will still make attempts to work around the rules, thinking that their daily wear is safe enough or that it’s just too much of a hassle to don the right clothing. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

Understood—this has long been one of the most pressing issues in implementing a safety program. In fact, it’s one of the primary reasons Enespro PPE came into the market. We have seen just how challenging it is for employers to provide workers with gear that the worker is happy to wear.

During our time interviewing safety professionals and electricians alike, we worked to develop electrical PPE that provides a balance of comfort, mobility, durability and functionality.

We developed our PPE to provide comfort without compromise—designing our arc flash suits to be extremely lightweight (i.e. AirLite 40 Cal suits are 45% lighter than typical 40 Cal suits) and our “ActiveCool Venting^TM underarm system increases mobility by 3X and air-flow by 5x. Enespro jackets, bib overalls and coveralls also have an elastic panel in the back to provide a more comfortable fit and the bibs and coverall all have leg zipper to make it much easier to put on over boots. Safe, comfortable, and less stressed, your employees can do their work without having to worry about any tradeoffs.

Ready to learn more? Buy Enespro PPE arc flash kits online now or contact us for a quote.

Our Products in Action: LidCo Electrical Contractors Case Study

If you’re like many employers, you know the challenge: No matter how much you try, employees still seem to ignore the requirement to wear electrical PPE. In fact, this was a problem for LidCo Electrical Contractors—until they found Enespro.

For years, LidCo provided their employees with traditional arc flash PPE, only for employees to ignore requirements. Sick of seeing these risks, CEO Robert Liddy sought a better solution for safety, attending a recent Enespro seminar and ultimately opting to purchase an Enespro 40 CAL AirLite™ kit for each van.

The results were astounding. Not only did it increase use among workers, employees found the suit so lightweight, breathable, and comfortable that the company was able to move to a one suit approach. Ready to learn more? Read the entire case study below.