A WORD OF CAUTION
It can be seen that there is a degree of inconsistency between the three classifi cations in that both the garment EN Categories and the fabric Classes use a rating scale where Level 1 represents the lowest level of protection and the highest number represents the highest level of protection. Paradoxically, however, the garment Type scale works the other way round
with a Type 1 classifi cation, i.e. the lowest number, referring to the highest level of protection! This anomaly can be very confusing to the specifi er or user and it can be helpful to use some form of mnemonic or visual Aid Memoire to avoid mistakes.
garm ent
Cate gori
es 1
2 3
pe rfo
rm an
ce Ty
pe s
6 5
4 3
2 1
fabr ic C
lass es
1 2
3 4
5 6
ANNEXE 2: PROTECTIVE GARMENTS - CATEGORIES, TYPES AND CLASSES
Figure 1. Visual Aid Memoire on garment Categories, performace Types and fabric Classes.
Annexe 2
Source: DuPont.
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