Testing and evaluation of light clothing properties used in fire and rescue service units

Abstract

In the testing room for examination products of the Fire Engineering and Expert Institute (FEEI) of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava, the Slovak National Accreditation Service SNAS has granted accreditation. Accredited testing room with identification number no. S-084 performs tests applied in the field of personal protective equipment. The goal is to specify, determine, and, above all, verify the selected characteristics for emergency clothing (light emergency clothing-LEC) used by firefighters and rescuers in the Fire and Rescue Service units to determine the conditions for procurement and quality control of the LEC supplied. The results obtained during the examination of the properties of light emergency clothing will be used in the next steps of the research of the Product Assessment Department (PAD) FEEI of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. In contrast, individual parameters can be used to design new LEC. The basic meaning and purpose of any protective means are to protect a person who intervenes in a dangerous environment contaminated with chemical, biological or radioactive substances, for example, in industrial accidents connected with the release of dangerous substances (HAZMAT), in accidents of vehicles transporting HAZMAT and natural disasters or fires of various nature. Protecting from the external environment is one of the favourable inherent properties of personal protective work equipment (PPE).