Flame-Resistant Garments for Protection of Industrial Personnel
Against Short-Duration Thermal Exposure from Fire

NFPA 2112:2018 is a US standard developed by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) that lays minimum requirements for the design, construction, evaluation, testing requirements and certification of an FR garment. It addresses both the garment as a whole and its components, including the garment's fabric. Compliance with this standard assures industrial personal that the fire-retardant garment will protect the wearer against unexpected flash fire events.

NFPA 2112:2018 aims to provide a specified level of protection that will reduce the severity of burn injuries. The performance requirements are applied to flame-resistant garments not limited to jackets and coveralls but also flame retardant garments shrouds/hoods/balaclavas and gloves. A garment that complies with NFPA 2112:2018 has met all specific benchmarks and levels, as stipulated by the NFPA to be necessary for an FR garment.
The 2018 updates of this standard refer to flash fire as short-duration thermal exposure from fire, the term including vapour cloud fires, jet flames, liquid fires, solids fires, and warehouse fires.

ASTM F1930

For a garment to comply with NFPA 2112:2018, the 'Manikin test' or ASTM F1930:2018 must be conducted using the garments fabric. The results from the manikin test must meet the benchmark stipulated by the NFPA. For the garment's fabric to pass, the material must withstand three seconds of propane fire with at least 50% or less damage to the manikin's surface. Three seconds is the upper limit of the duration of a flash fire. The percentage from the average of three replications of test exposure represents the body burn. The body burn average will indicate either a pass or fail, dependent on whether it meets the NFPA 2112:2018 50% body burn benchmark.

ASTM D6413

ASTM D6413, commonly referred to as the 'Vertical flame' test, is a significant standard used to prove a fabric is flame-resistant. A rectangular strip of test fabric is placed vertically in an enclosed chamber. A flame is placed underneath the strip. The strip is exposed for 12 seconds. From the fabric test strip, two factors are measured;

• Afterflame: the duration of time the strip continues to burn after the 12-second mark when the flame is shut off
• Char length: the break in the fabric due to charing or blackening of the fabric's surface

Specific standards stipulate different times and lengths for these factors NFPA 2112:2018 stipulates:

• a maximum of 2 seconds afterflame
• a maximum of 4 inches (10.16cm) of char length

The test is repeated five times to develop a char length average. This is a pass/fail criteria for NFPA 2112:2018.

The Oven Test

The garments fabric, as well as its zippers or reflective tape, are placed in an oven. During this time, the fabric must exhibit no melting, dripping, separation or ignition for an oven exposure of five minutes at 500°F (260°C).

Labelling

NFPA 2112:2018 outlines strict labelling instructions. On the label of compliant garments, the mark of a third-party certifier must be clearly visible. Alongside this mark, must be the following text:
This Flame Resistant Garment meets the requirements of NFPA 2112, Standard for Flame Resistant garments for protection of Industrial Personnel against short-duration Thermal Exposure from fire.
NOTE: slight differences in the wording of this phrase may indicate the garments non-compliance.