ISO 13506-2:2024

Overview

ISO 13506-2:2024, titled Protective clothing against heat and flame - Part 2: Skin burn injury prediction - Calculation requirements and test cases, is an international standard developed by ISO. This document specifies the technical calculation methods for predicting burn injuries to human skin exposed to varying heat fluxes, such as those encountered during exposure to flames and high thermal environments through protective clothing.

By establishing clear calculation requirements and offering standardized test cases, ISO 13506-2:2024 supports consistent and reliable evaluation of protective clothing designed to limit heat transfer and minimize skin burn risks. It provides essential guidelines for using manikin-based heat exposure data, executing burn prediction calculations, and validating the performance of protective garments.

Key Topics

• Predicted Skin Burn Injury Calculation: Outlines how to calculate the expected extent and severity of burns using transient heat flux data from manikin tests.
• Three-Layer Skin Model: Uses a skin model with defined epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue layers, considering both temperature-dependent and -independent thermal properties.
• Calculation Verification: Includes multiple standard test cases to verify the accuracy and robustness of the skin burn prediction methodology.
• In Situ Calibration of Sensors: Specifies procedures for calibrating the thermal energy sensors and the skin injury prediction system over relevant heat flux ranges.
• Burn Severity Classification: Defines degree-specific criteria (first, second, third-degree burns) for injury prediction based on calculated skin temperature and exposure duration.
• Limitations: Excludes scenarios involving short-wavelength radiation sources (e.g., arc flashes or nuclear exposures), focusing instead on heat transferred through garments in flame situations.

Applications

ISO 13506-2:2024 is primarily applied in safety, certification, and quality assurance contexts involving protective clothing used in high-heat or flame-exposure environments. Typical applications include:

• Firefighter and Industrial Protective Clothing Testing: Verifies and compares garment performance during simulated fire exposures, contributing to product development and regulatory compliance.
• Thermal Manikin Laboratory Studies: Standardizes burn injury calculations for laboratories using instrumented manikins to test clothing effectiveness.
• Certification and Regulatory Assessment: Supports harmonized evaluation criteria for protective garments according to international safety standards.
• R&D and Quality Control: Assists manufacturers and developers in objectively assessing how well protective clothing minimizes skin burn risk in realistic fire scenarios.
• Occupational Health and Safety Planning: Provides data-driven insights for organizations aiming to improve personal protective equipment (PPE) selection and risk management in high-temperature environments.

Related Standards

For a comprehensive approach to evaluating protective clothing against heat and flame, ISO 13506-2:2024 should be used alongside the following related standards:

• ISO 13506-1: Protective clothing against heat and flame - Part 1: Test method for complete garments - Measurement of transferred energy using an instrumented manikin. This standard details the manikin-based test procedure for collecting the heat flux data used in ISO 13506-2.
• ISO 11610: Protective clothing - Vocabulary. Provides essential terminology used throughout the ISO 13506 series.
• ASTM F1930: A similar test method developed by ASTM for predicting skin burn injuries, referenced for compatibility and method harmonization.
• ISO 11612 & EN 469: Standards specifying performance requirements for protective clothing in industrial and firefighting applications, where ISO 13506-2 is often referenced for injury prediction criteria.

ISO 13506-2:2024 increases the reliability and comparability of burn injury predictions, helping organizations select and validate heat- and flame-resistant protective clothing that meets stringent international safety requirements.