Understanding the Levels of Different Hazmat Suits
In a previous post we discussed how to properly don and doff a hazmat suit. But which hazmat suit is best for your particular industry? This blog post will explain what makes each level of hazmat suit... A, B, C, and D... unique and what environment they are designed to offer protection.
What is a Hazmat Suit?
Hazmat suits are a form of OSHA mandated protective clothing known as "personal protective equipment" (PPE), gear that protects people that work with hazardous substances of any kind, acting as a shield that stops these harmful materials from touching the wearer's skin, eyes, and sometimes even their respiratory system. They are most commonly found in emergency response, chemical plants, and healthcare workers.
What do Hazmat Suits Protect Workers From?
There are three primary reasons a person might need a protective suit:
Nuclear: Exposure to radiation can not only make you sick and exponentially increase your risk of life threatening diseases like cancer.
Chemical: Workers in these chemical factories or spills need PPE so that they can avoid skin contact, breathing in, or swallowing harmful chemicals. The suits also need to consist of repellant material in order to prevent such substances from corroding or burning away the protection.
Biological: Anywhere that has biological substances... whether that be a research lab or a hospital... exposes workers to blood borne and human waste pathogens. While sometimes it is simply as coveralls, other instances include contagious diseases and require the highest level of protection in order to isolate and stop the disease from spreading.
How often should Hazmat Suits be inspected?
Hazmat suits, including safety boots, need to be checked before each use. They should also be inspected regularly as stated by the manufacturer and safety guidelines. If there is any damage, wear, or breakdown, the suit must be replaced.
Guardian OCC Health Offers Hazmat Physicals
Different Hazmat Suits and Their Specific Uses
Dangerous substances?
Hazmat suits keep you safe.
Deadly substances?
Hazmat suits keep you ALIVE.
But with different types of hazmat suits comes different levels of protection. Proper hazmat suit selection depends on the specific situation and the hazards present, tasks required of the worker, and risks that come with exposure.
We'll start with the lowest level (D) and work our way up to the highest level of protection (A).
image is not property of Guardian Occupational Health
Level D Hazmat Suit: Basic Protection for Non-Emergency Situations
Level D protection is the lowest type of protection recognized by OSHA, and is used for ordinary work situations. It consists of standard work clothes, like coveralls, safety boots (steel toe and shank), and safety glasses. Often workers do not have specialized footwear (just disposable plastic coverings) are encouraged to have some minor respiratory protection, like an N95 mask, though this is not OSHA mandated. They are intended for construction workers, sanitation workers, and people in similar jobs dealing with unpleasant, but not necessarily harmful, materials.
image is not property of Guardian Occupational Health
Level C Hazmat Suit: Protection in Lower Hazard Environments
Level C is most commonly used by emergency responders when the dangers of the environment are already known, specific, and minimal; below levels that are immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH). They include:
Full body coveralls, including a hood, for liquid splash protection
Specialized footwear (with steel toe and shank)
Chemical splash googles with side vents
Two layers of chemical-resistant gloves
An APR (full or half mask)
Tape around each seal
OPTIONAL: hard hat or face mask.
The APR, or "air purifying respirator" is the biggest upgrade from level D. It basically NIOSH approved gas mask that can be full or half face pieces (with goggles covering the upper half). Regardless, they need to be properly fitted and form a seal on your face so that they can filter the air as your breathe through the valve.
Level C protection is the "most flexible" of the hazmat suits. Sometimes they are made of the exact same material as level B suits, and ideal for helping someone decontaminate after leaving the hot zone. Other times they involve disposable coveralls, and are a step up from level D, offering some fire and splash protection, but not preventing exposure to toxic vapors.
Can Level C Hazmat Suits be used in chemical spill situations?
They now have full body protection is when a suits can be good for cleaning up some chemical spills. This depends on the types of chemicals, how strong they are, and the risks involved. However, they are not right for emergency response to spills where the chemicals are unknown or when more respiratory protection is needed.
image is not property of Guardian Occupational Health
Level B Hazmat Suit: High Level of Respiratory Protection
Level B suits are a small upgrade from level C suits. They are either a one or two piece neoprene chemical splash suit offering some additional protection from splashes and small amounts of vapor. They also have the same level of sealing (tape) and boots. However, there are two important differences:
Outer chemical resistant gloves: Virtually every hazmat suit wearer has a disposable 4 mil nitrile glove. For levels B and A an additional, heavier 8mil nitrile glove is required. These gloves are often heat resistant and come with an accitional cover to prevent lacerations from sharp objects.
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA): Also known as an "air tank", these full face coverings are necessary when any amount of air in the hot zone poses a threat to the worker. Some industries opt for a Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) instead. The tanks are work externally, and can be removed while leaving the protection of the suit intact.
These suits are effective for situations where breathing is the main danger, or in cases like checking a site for hazards that are not fully known yet. They are also great for cleaning up spills with substances that are more harmful to breathe in than to touch.
image is not property of Guardian Occupational Health
Level A Hazmat Suit: Maximum Protection
As good as level B suits are, they are still a lower level of respiratory protection than level A hazmat suits. Level A is reserved for the most toxic, deadly, and dangerous hazardous materials... situations involving lethal liquid chemicals, heavy gases, or radioactive environments. These are the suits you see in the disaster movies or during the ebola crisis.
Level A hazmat suits have all the protective gear of level B suits, with three additional differences:
These suits provide full protection: Every inch of the worker is protected (often with two layers) from any and all vapor and gas. This is the highest level of respiratory protection and skin protection, with the SCBA inside of the suit and an additional full face piece.
Level C respirators filter air... level B provide its own oxygen... but level A suit creates its on ecosystem. They have fully sealed seams, a full mask SCBA, and has its a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) that acts as the suits own ventilation system, both cooling and creating positive pressure in the suit itself to prevent the suit collapsing in on itself.
Because they are completely sealed, the worker has a two way radio system to communicate with others.
In summary, if you are wearing a Level A hazmat suit, then you have inner nitrile gloves, outer thick nitrile gloves, coveralls, a suit with built in socks, chemical resistant shoes with steel toes, a full face SCBA that is inside of the suit, taped up seals (4 layers), and a totally encapsulating gas and liquid protective suit. The whole 9 nine yards!
Conclusion: Pick the Right Personal Protection Equipment
The takeaway from this post is simple: there are 4 different hazmat suits for unique situations. Each overall garment comes with their own form of eye protection, skin protection, and defense against air contaminants... and having the wrong one for your specific site characteristics could leave you vulnerable to unknown and known hazards. So whether you are on the construction site dealing with hazardous levels of chemicals, putting out a fire with a risk of liquid splashes, or protecting society from infectious diseases ... double check that your hazmat suit is the right one for the job.
