DuPont Designs Chemical Protection for Full-Body Harness Wearers, Leveraging MSA’s Expertise in Fall Protection
Collaboration can ensure that fall protection and chemical protection PPE are compatible, with the goal of supporting compliance with an improved garment design.
Protecting workers from multiple hazards can be challenging. Working at heights in an environment where the presence of chemicals is also a risk factor is a case in point. Exposure to chemical threats is not only potentially hazardous to one’s health, but it can also weaken the protective capabilities and durability of the full-body harness. According to OSHA and Frost & Sullivan’s 2022 market report, fall protection is the single most frequently cited safety violation, with 36% of injuries resulting from a fall from height being attributed to exposure to chemicals or hazardous substances.
As a leading PPE manufacturer, DuPont was determined to develop a garment that would improve chemical protection for workers and their safety harnesses because it could be worn over the harness rather than beneath it. To achieve this aim, DuPont needed to work with a company with in-depth knowledge of fall protection. Safety expert MSA recognised the project’s potential immediately, resulting in close collaboration.
Rob Willis, Global Product Group Director – Industrial PPE & FP Systems at MSA Safety recalls: “When we were first approached by DuPont about this garment development project, I realized it was an opportunity to help support compliance, which is the number one safety issue in the fall protection space. We were looking at the same problem in different ways, bringing different areas of expertise to the table.
Rob Willis, Global Product Group Director – Industrial PPE & FP Systems, MSA
Figen Ersezer, EMEA Tyvek® Project Leader, DuPont Personal Protection
DuPont™ Tyvek® Project Leader Figen Ersezer agrees: “DuPont and MSA are both among leaders in the safety industry and are motivated by the same mission: to provide solutions to help ensure workers get home safely each day. We also approach product design in a similar way, with innovations driven by customer insights. This gave us confidence that the collaboration would be successful.”
The result is the DuPont™ Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178, an innovative and patent-pending garment. For the first time, health & safety professionals can specify a chemical protection garment that has been designed to be worn over a full-body harness to protect both the user and the harness, while offering multiple access points through four elasticized D-Ring sleeves on the garment.
The Challenge: supporting compliance and improving comfort
The new garment design was inspired by real customer experiences. DuPont identified that health & safety professionals often found it difficult to provide adequate protection to people working at heights because existing chemical protective garments can impede the deployment of the safety harness and do not offer adequate protection for both the wearer and the harness. In addition, current chemical protective garments are often uncomfortable to wear due to the bunching of coverall material under the harness. Meanwhile, MSA had identified that workers are more likely to be compliant with fall protection regulations if their PPE is comfortable.
A key design consideration in terms of both comfort and performance was the alignment of access points for D-Rings on the garment. During prototype development, DuPont conducted thorough testing of various harness brands and models to determine the compatibility and suitability of the garment with a variety of harness models. MSA then conducted various tests to further inform prototype development, including dynamic fall testing and user wear trials featuring the MSA V-Fit harness range. The final garment design was then validated by an external, independent testing laboratory.
Based on their in-house validation regime, MSA declared: “In our opinion, the Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178 garment, when worn with an MSA harness, will not affect the drop test performance of the harness.”
The Solution: an innovative, patent-pending chemical protective garment
Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178 is a Category III Type 5/6 garment that combines flexible, full-body harness accessibility with excellent protection from particles and light liquid aerosols. The soft and breathable Tyvek® fabric helps improve wearer comfort over extended periods and gives the garment flexibility and durability, so it can withstand the rigors of industrial environments to deliver consistent protection and safety.
The hooded coverall is designed to be worn over a full-body harness and provides multiple access points via four elasticated D-Ring sleeves that are attached to the garment: one in the front, one in the back, and one on each side. Its off-center zipper entry accommodates the front D-Ring sleeve for the front D-Ring connection. Further features include stitched seams with no added silicone, elasticated wrists, ankles, hood, and waist, with thumb-loops and zipper made of Tyvek® material.
Its innovative design makes the Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178 garment an essential solution for many hazardous work environments including those in construction, utilities, wind energy generation, and transportation, as well as general maintenance, cleaning, and painting.
The Outcome: better compliance, better protection, better comfort
For MSA, the DuPont™ Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178 garment is beneficial for wearers who have invested in their high-end full-body harness solutions, as it provides an added layer of protection against chemical hazards without compromising the integrity of the harness.
Dennis Capizzi, Senior Industrial Marketing Manager & NNA CX Leader at MSA, explains: “In our experience, customers often buy low-cost harnesses because they know they will get dirty or degrade quickly – so they are treated as a disposable item. Now they can justify investment in better designed, high-quality harnesses that will last longer, knowing they are protected by DuPont™ Tyvek® 500 HP garments – delivering better protection and better ROI.”
Dennis Capizzi, Senior Industrial Marketing Manager & NNA CX Leader, MSA
For DuPont, the new Tyvek® 500 HP garment represents another milestone: the successful development of a coverall that offers protection from multiple hazards and delivers multiple benefits for wearers.
The Tyvek® 500 HP model TY178 design can enable easy access to all D-Rings without the need to first remove or adjust the protective garment. This means that setup and usage time may be significantly reduced, improving efficiency and helping workers to focus on their tasks without interruption. By helping to extend the wear life of full-body harnesses, the new garment also offers the potential to reduce harness maintenance and the frequency of replacements, leading to less waste and lower long-term costs.
Figen Ersezer, DuPont concludes: “Through consultation with MSA, we were able to gain a deeper understanding of the specific requirements of full-body harness wearers, and to recognize the performance differentiators in designing a garment that is compatible with such harnesses. We believe that our joint efforts can deliver tangible improvements for our customers and help make compliance with fall protection and chemical protection requirements easier in future.”
