OPINIÓN/ POINT OF VIEW la compra se concreta o no. Por eso, hay que exigir lo necesario del pro- veedor, para que demuestre que lo que se está comprando es en realidad lo que piensan que están comprando. Todo fabricante o proveedor con buena reputación, cumplirá de buena gana y sin problemas con este reque- rimiento. Por eso, les digo a los encargados de compras: “Caveat Emptor”. ¡Protejan de verdad las vidas de quienes llevarán el vestuario de protección que están comprando para ellos! *Alec Feldman BBS, MA FIFireE. Fulcrum Consultants, Dublin, Irlanda. www.fulcrum.consult@iol.ie Autor de JOIFF Handbook on PPE to protect Against Heat and Flame [Manual JOIFF sobre EPI de protección contra calor y llamas] (Disponible para descarga en www.joiff.com) Miembro de la National Fire Protection Association. (EE.UU-). Representante de la Autoridad sobre Directivas Nacionales de Irlanda, ante los Comités de Directivas CEN (Europeas) e ISO (Internacionales), sobre protección contra calor y lla- mas Miembro de NFPA (EE.UU.) Comités Técnicos de Prendas de protección contra llamaradas para bomberos profesionales. Miembro de ASTM (EE.UU.) Comités internacionales sobre seguridad y vestuario de pro- tección. make to the Emperor who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire. They tell him that they will manufacture a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions or who are stupid or incompetent. The Emperor believes their story and so cannot see the cloth himself, but he pretends that he can and for fear of appearing unfit for their position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects. They in turn, all pretend to see the clothes too, until a child in the crowd calls out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is only then taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession. The first similarity between this tale and purchasing items of clothing to protect against heat and flame is that unfortunately, in the market for clothing to protect against heat and flame, some manufacturers/suppliers make false claims that cannot be shown to be false until it is too late - when the garment fails to provide the necessary protection on exposure to flame and the wearer is badly burnt. The second similarity is that if the Emperor was seeking protection against heat and flame there is no doubt that he would be far safer wearing no clothes at all, than wearing clothes that could catch fire. Studies of persons who have survived from exposure to flame show that the parts of the body covered by clothing that has burnt will often suffer the most severe burns. The head and hands, which were fully exposed to the heat of the fire exposure were established as being less severely burnt than parts of the body that in theory, would have been best shielded by clothing from the heat of the fire. The last similarity is that, like the crowd looking at the Emperor’s “new clothes”, too many purchasers accept without question the claims made by suppliers about the clothing that they manufacture. In the field of safety of personnel, the consequences of this blind acceptance usually cannot be seen until it is too late. Conclusions Throughout the World there are Health and Safety requirements to protect Company employees. There is also a responsibility placed on employers to ensure the safety of their employees This is often disregarded when purchasing departments, with no knowledge of the dangers inherent at an incident/accident over-rule the end User department on matters of cost. The person who makes the purchasing decision for protective clothing is the person who sets the Organisation’s parameters for protection of the persons who have to wear it. Therefore the decision- maker should have knowledge of the risks against which the protective clothing is supposed to pro- tect and before selecting the protective clothing, a risk assessment of the workplace should be carried out to establish the type of protective clothing that will be “fit for purpose” for their emplo- yees who will wear it. Purchasers should realise that they are the main players in any Purchasing Decision – it is ultima- tely the decision of the purchaser whether or not the purchase takes place. As such, the Purchaser should make the necessary demands from the supplier for the supplier to demonstrate that what they are buying is what they think they are buying. Any reputable manufacturer/supplier will easily and readily comply with this requirement. So I say to Purchasers, “Caveat Emptor” – and truly protect the lives of those who will wear the clothing that you purchase for them. !! Alec Feldman BBS, MA FIFireE. Fulcrum Consultants, Dublin, Ireland. www.fulcrum.consult@iol.ie Author, JOIFF Handbook on PPE to protect Against Heat and Flame (Available for download at www.joif.com) Member of the National Fire Protection Association. (USA). Represents National Standards Authority of Ireland on CEN (European) and ISO (Inter- national) Standards Organisation Committees dealing with Standards for Clothing to protect against heat and flame/. Member of NFPA (USA) Technical Committees for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifica- tions and Flash Fire garments. Member of ASTM (USA) International Committees on Homeland Security and Protecti- ve Clothing. 56 EPI: MATERIALES, MAQUINARIA Y TÉCNICAS PARA SU FABRICACIÓN/ PPE: MATERIALS, MACHINERY AND TECHNIQUES FOR THEIR PRODUCTION