Aramid webbing does not melt and does not sustain a flame. On hot work that is the whole point: a spark landing on a polyester lanyard can put a hole through the webbing before anyone notices, and the damage is invisible until the next inspection.
The Fire Free range is aramid throughout, and it complies with ISO 9150 (behaviour when small splashes of molten metal land on it) and ISO 15025 (flame spread). Those two standards are what separate genuinely flame resistant PPE from webbing that merely looks robust.
Key Features
- Aramid webbing: Does not melt and does not sustain a flame, unlike polyester which melts and can be holed by a single spark.
- ISO 9150 and ISO 15025: Tested for molten metal splash and flame spread, not just described as heat resistant.
- Conforms to BS EN 355 shock absorbing.
- Part of a complete Fire Free system: Harness, lanyard and anchorage sling. A flame resistant system with one polyester component is not flame resistant.
Technical Specifications
| Property |
Value |
| Product Code |
FA 30 402 XX |
| Material |
Aramid webbing |
| Conformity |
BS EN 355 shock absorbing, ISO 9150, ISO 15025 |
| Range |
Kratos Fire Free |
BS EN 355 shock absorbing | ISO 9150 Molten Metal | ISO 15025 Flame Spread | Category III PPE
Aramid construction conforming to BS EN 355 shock absorbing, together with ISO 9150 for behaviour under molten metal splash and ISO 15025 for flame spread. Category III PPE under Regulation (EU) 2016/425. Flame resistance protects the equipment; it does not make the work safe. Inspection by a competent person at intervals not exceeding 12 months and immediate withdrawal after arresting a fall or any thermal damage.
Suitable Applications
Specified for welding and hot cutting at height, foundry and steel mill work, and any task where sparks, spatter or hot fragments reach the lanyard. The case for the whole Fire Free range is that a system is only as flame resistant as its least resistant component — which is usually the one nobody thought about.
More About This Product
The lanyard is where most fall protection systems are specified wrongly, and almost always in the same direction: a restraint lanyard used where fall arrest was needed.
It happens because the two look alike, cost similarly, hang in the same place in the store and are both described as lanyards. The difference is a folded pack of stitched webbing — the shock absorber — and on some designs it is tucked inside a cover where it is not obvious at a glance. A restraint lanyard is engineered on the assumption that it will never take a fall, and if it does, the forces reaching the body are far beyond what the human frame tolerates.
Fall Clearance: The Calculation Nobody Does
Ask most people how much clearance a 2 metre shock absorbing lanyard needs and they will say two metres. The real figure is a great deal more, and the gap between those two numbers is where people get hurt.
The calculation stacks up as follows. Lanyard length — as marked on the lanyard. Shock absorber deployment — the pack tears progressively and extends significantly. The figure for your specific lanyard is on its own label and must be read from there. The user's height below the attachment point — the dorsal D-ring is at shoulder height, so add roughly 1.5 m to reach the feet. A safety margin — because the calculation assumes ideal conditions and reality rarely provides them.
Added together these come to considerably more than the lanyard length, frequently more than double it. On a low working platform a shock absorbing lanyard may not prevent the ground being reached at all.
Where the clearance is not available, the answer is a retractable block, which arrests in a far shorter distance, or a restraint system where a fall is prevented rather than arrested.
How to Use
- Use the complete Fire Free system: Harness, lanyard and anchorage sling. Mixing in a polyester component defeats the purpose.
- Calculate fall clearance: Length plus absorber deployment plus user height plus margin.
- Inspect after every hot work session: Thermal damage is cumulative and each session adds to it.
- Position clear of the arc where possible: Flame resistance buys margin, not immunity.
- Withdraw on any sign of charring, stiffening or melting.
Warning: Aramid resists flame and molten metal but is not immune to them. Inspect after every hot work session and withdraw on any charring, stiffening, discolouration or melting. Never combine Fire Free equipment with polyester components in the same system.
Safety Information
- For use only by trained and competent persons within a safe system of work.
- Use the complete Fire Free system; do not mix with polyester components.
- Calculate fall clearance including shock absorber deployment.
- Inspect after every hot work session.
- Withdraw on any sign of thermal damage.
- Withdraw immediately after arresting a fall.
- Inspection by a competent person required at intervals not exceeding 12 months.
- Store away from direct sunlight, heat sources and chemicals.
Inspection and Maintenance
Thermal damage to aramid presents differently from mechanical damage, and inspectors used to polyester can miss it. Look for charring, discolouration, stiffening and a loss of suppleness in the weave — aramid that has been heated hard goes brittle before it goes obviously black. Check the full length on both faces, every termination and all stitching. Check the shock absorber pack for any sign of deployment, tearing or an opened cover. Inspect all connectors for gate operation and throat wear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why not just use a standard lanyard and be careful?
Because a single spark can put a hole through polyester webbing, and the damage is invisible until the next inspection. Polyester melts; aramid does not. On hot work that is not a marginal improvement, it is a different category of equipment.
Q: What do ISO 9150 and ISO 15025 actually test?
ISO 9150 covers behaviour when small splashes of molten metal land on the material. ISO 15025 covers flame spread. Together they are what distinguish tested flame resistant PPE from webbing that is merely described as heat resistant.
Q: Do I need the whole Fire Free range?
If the work generates sparks that reach your equipment, yes. A system is only as flame resistant as its weakest component, and the anchorage sling — the one most often overlooked — is typically the one lying closest to the work.
