Protective clothing certified to the EN 1149-5 standard protects against unintentional electrostatic discharge from the wearer’s clothing in environments where sparks present a hazard. For example, wherever there is a risk of explosion due to gas or other readily combustible substances.

Protective clothing with electrostatic properties must be part of a total earthed system and be used together with other anti-static protective equipment for it to work properly. Footwear and mats with electrostatic dissipative properties must also be used as part of a total earthed system.

The standard sets requirements for garment design and material performance.
Materials are defined as electrostatic dissipative if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

Half decay time
— geometric mean of t50 < 4 s, tested according to EN 1149-3:2004, test method 2 (induction charging),

Shielding factor
— arithmetic mean of S > 0.2 tested according to EN 1149-3:2004, test method 2 (induction charging)

Surface resistance
— geometric mean of surface resistance of less than or equal to 2.5 × 109 Ω, on at least one surface, tested according to EN 1149-1

Protective clothing that meets general requirements of the EN 1149-5 standard is marked with the following pictogram: