The Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) commonly issues regulations for safety equipment and practices in the United States. Three OSHA regulations are used as the basis of requiring FR clothing. Please select one of the links below to learn more about each regulation.
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OSHA 1910.269 Maintenance Standard Summary
This standard applies to electric utilities and industrial co-generation plants when work is performed on existing facilities (i.e. maintenance work). This standard does not apply to the construction of new facilities (a construction standard with more stringent FR requirements is being developed).
The Maintenance Standard requires that personnel who work around energized parts not wear clothing that, if exposed to an electric arc, could contribute to the extent of burn injury. This means that the clothing cannot ignite. This is a "non-contributory" standard, rather than a Personal Protective Equipment (or "PPE") standard. The rule prohibits wearing polyester, nylon, rayon or acetate (unless FR treated). The rule allows the use of 100% untreated cotton under certain, narrowly defined circumstances.
An electric utility can adopt two approaches for compliance with OSHA 1910.269:
- Personnel can wear 100% cotton clothing of sufficient weight that it does not ignite in the expected arc hazard. This requires the utility to conduct a hazard analysis, then test the proposed 100% cotton clothing to ensure it does not ignite under the expected use conditions. The appropriate test method to determine the ignition hazard of non-FR clothing is ASTM F1958 "Standard Test Method for Determining the Ignitability of Clothing by Electric Arc Using a Mannequin."
- Personnel can wear flame-resistant clothing. The flame-resistant clothing selected by the utility is not required to meet any specific standards. However, FR clothing that meets the performance requirements of ASTM F1506 "Standard for Wearing Apparel for Electric Utility Workers" complies with OSHA 1910.269.
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OSHA 1910.32 General Duty Clause Summary
This standard requires employers to identify risks and protect employees from hazards in the workplace. The rule applies to many types of personal protective equipment, such as safety glasses, hard hats and safety shoes. In some instances, when employees suffered burns in the workplace, OSHA has used this standard to cite employers that did not require the use of flame-resistant protective apparel.
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OSHA 1910.119 Process Safety Management Regulation Summary
This standard requires employers to assess risk throughout the entire manufacturing process to ensure that the process is safe. The standard applies to chemical plants and petroleum plants. It has specific requirements on handling flammable substances. However, the standard does not specifically require FR clothing. Recently, OSHA has used this standard more frequently than the "General Duty Clause" as the basis of citing employers for not requiring FR clothing.
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