ASTM F1461-17 Standard Practice for Chemical Protective Clothing Program

ASTM F1461-17 standard published by the American Testing and Materials Organization (ASTM) describes the properties and test methods of chemical protective clothing. The full name of this standard is as follows: ASTM F1461-17 Standard practice for the chemical protective suit program.

The standard application in question provides the elements that make up the chemical protective clothing program and the conditions to be used in creating a program for the selection and use of chemical protective clothing. Performing this application requires the development of a written program for any use of chemical protective clothing.

This application outlines the necessary information and recommended methods for risk assessment required before selecting chemical protective clothing.

This standard does not address a wide variety of methods for testing chemical protective clothing or obtaining data from which evaluations are made. These test methods are listed in the second part of this application.

This standard does not include recommendations for personal protection from nuclear radiation, radioactive contamination or microbiological organisms, or clothing worn to protect a particular environment from chemicals, particles, or living things that may arise. Therefore, this standard should be used when there are no other control methods for chemical protective clothing. The main uses of the standard are:

• Maintenance procedures
• Defective or emergencies
• Use when not possible or installed instead of engineering controls
• To support applicable engineering controls if the hazard cannot be fully controlled
• If engineering checks fail

Briefly, according to the application recommended in the ASTM F1461-17 standard, engineering controls and replacement of materials should be emphasized as the first line of defense in control situations, as the effective use of chemical protective clothing depends on worker compatibility, appropriate selection, quality control and other variables.

Within the framework of laboratory services of materials, our institution also provides standard application testing services for ASTM F1461-17 Chemical protective clothing program.