ISO 18639-6:2018

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 18639-6
First edition
2018-01
PPE ensembles for firefighters
undertaking specific rescue
activities —
Part 6:
Footwear
Équipements de protection personnelle pour pompiers entreprenant
des activités de sauvetage particulières —
Partie 6: Chaussures
Reference number
©
ISO 2018
© ISO 2018, Published in Switzerland
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ii © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 2
4 Classification and designs . 2
5 Sampling and conditioning . 4
5.1 Sampling . 4
5.2 Conditioning . 4
6 Performance requirements . 4
6.1 General . 4
6.2 Summary of requirements and classification of specific rescue activities . 4
6.3 Thermal requirements . 6
6.3.1 Insulation against heat . 6
6.3.2 Flame resistance . 7
6.4 Mechanical protection requirements . 8
6.4.1 Cut resistance by a hand-held chainsaw . 8
6.4.2 Metatarsal Protection . 8
6.4.3 Ankle Protection . 8
6.5 Environmental protection requirements . 8
6.5.1 Water resistance . . . 8
6.5.2 Electrical properties . 8
6.6 Visibility requirements . 8
6.7 Biological and chemical requirements . 9
6.7.1 Liquid penetration resistance . 9
7 Marking . 9
8 Information to be supplied . 9
8.1 General . 9
8.2 Antistatic footwear .10
8.3 Electrically insulating footwear .11
8.4 Insocks .11
8.5 Information regarding penetration resistant insert .11
Annex A (normative) Assessment of the footwear by the laboratory during testing for
resistance to heat and flame .12
Annex B (informative) Assessment of the footwear by the wearer .13
Annex C (informative) The following drawing can be provided with the user information to
assist in assessing the performance of firefighter footwear .14
Annex D (informative) Slip resistance .15
Bibliography .18
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following
URL: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 94, Personal safety — Protective clothing
and equipment, Subcommittee SC 14, Fire-fighters' personal equipment.
A list of all the parts in the ISO 18639 series can be found on the ISO website.
iv © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Introduction
ISO 18639 is a series of standards for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for firefighters when
engaged in specific rescue activities. It is not possible to provide a standard for PPE to cover all of the
diverse range of rescue scenarios that firefighters are likely to encounter so it is important that risk
assessments are undertaken to determine if the PPE covered by ISO 18639 is suitable for its intended
use and the expected exposure to hazards. For complete protection against exposures, the risk
assessment should include protection of the whole body including the torso, arms and legs, head, face,
hands and feet.
For certain rescue activities, safety ropes and harnesses can be required. For certain rescue situations,
special PPE for use in and on water can be required. In some cases, appropriate respiratory protection
can also be identified as being necessary.
The performance requirements in this document take account of accidental exposure to heat and flame,
but do not cover PPE for firefighting. While this document takes account of accidental exposure to some
common chemicals, it is not intended that PPE to this document should be considered as providing
chemical protection as a primary function. It does not cover PPE to protect against biological, electrical
or radiation hazards. The risk assessment determines whether PPE complying to this document or the
requirements of any other relevant standard is more suitable.
Firefighters should be trained in the use, care and maintenance of the PPE covered by this document,
including an understanding of its limitations.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 18639-6:2018(E)
PPE ensembles for firefighters undertaking specific rescue
activities —
Part 6:
Footwear
1 Scope
This document provides the principles that govern the development of incident type and/or hazard
specific test methods and minimum performance requirements for safety footwear for firefighters
while engaged in specific rescue activities.
Footwear related to specific rescue activities, e.g. Road Traffic Crash, (RTC) and Urban Search and
Rescue, (USAR) is documented in individual subclauses of this document.
NOTE For further guidance refer ISO 18639-1.
The purpose of this document is to ensure minimum performance requirements for incident type
and/or hazard specific safety footwear are designated.
This document covers general footwear design, the minimum performance level of the materials used
and the methods of test for determining this performance level.
It does not cover special footwear for use in other high risk situations such as structural firefighting.
This document does not cover protection for the head, torso, arms, hands and legs or protection of the
feet against other hazards, e.g. chemical, biological, radiation and electrical hazards, except for limited,
accidental exposure to fire ground chemicals and contaminated blood or body fluids.
Selection of the appropriate system of Personal Protective Equipment, (PPE), including footwear,
is dependent on carrying out an effective risk assessment which identifies the hazard to be faced,
evaluates the likelihood of those hazards and provides the means of reducing or eliminating these
hazards.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 18639-1, PPE for firefighters undertaking specific rescue activities — Part 1: General
ISO 13994, Clothing for protection against liquid chemicals — Determination of the resistance of protective
clothing materials to penetration by liquids under pressure
ISO 15025, Protective clothing — Protection against flame — Method of test for limited flame spread
ISO 20344, Personal protective equipment — Test methods for footwear
ISO 20345, Personal protective equipment — Safety footwear
EN 50321, Electrically insulating footwear for working on low voltage installations
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 18639-1 and ISO 20345 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
4 Classification and designs
Footwear shall be classified in accordance with Table 1 and Figure 1.
Table 1 — Classification of footwear
Classification Description
Footwear made from leather and other materials, excluding all-rubber or all-polymeric
Class I
footwear
Class II All-rubber (i.e. entirely vulcanized) or all-polymeric (i.e. entirely moulded) footwear

2 © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

a)  Low shoe — Not allowed b)  Ankle boot
c)  Half-knee boot d)  Knee-height boot
e)  Thigh boot
a
Variable extension which can be adapted to the wearer, see Note 1 for more information.
NOTE 1 Design E can be a knee-height boot (design D) equipped with a thin impermeable material which
extends the upper and which can be cut to adapt the boot to the wearer.
NOTE 2 Class II footwear can be equipped with another material which extends the upper (see
ISO 20345:2011, Annex A).
Figure 1 — Designs of footwear
5 Sampling and conditioning
Where not directly specified in a clause of this document, the sampling and conditioning of samples
shall satisfy the requirements of 5.1 and 5.2.
5.1 Sampling
The minimum number of samples shall be those specified ISO 20344:2011, Table 1.
Wherever possible, test pieces shall be taken from the whole footwear unless otherwise stated in this
document or ISO 20344.
If it is not possible to obtain a large enough test piece from the footwear, then a sample of the material
from which the component has been manufactured may be used instead and this shall be noted in the
test report.
Where samples are required from each of three sizes, these shall comprise the largest, smallest and a
middle size of the footwear under test.
5.2 Conditioning
All test pieces shall be conditioned in a standard atmosphere of (23 ± 2) °C and (50 ± 5) % relative
humidity for a minimum of 48 h before testing, unless otherwise stated in the test method.
The maximum time which shall elapse between removal from the conditioning atmosphere and the
start of testing shall be less than 10 min, unless otherwise stated in the test method.
Each test piece shall individually satisfy the specific requirement, unless otherwise stated in the
test method.
NOTE The uncertainty of measurement for each test method described in the present document can be
assessed. One of the two following approaches needs to be used:
[1]
— a statistical method, e.g. that given in ISO 5725-2 ;
[3]
— a mathematical method, e.g. that given in ENV 13005 .
6 Performance requirements
6.1 General
Footwear shall meet the requirements of 6.2 appropriate to the rescue activity classification for the
footwear.
6.2 Summary of requirements and classification of specific rescue activities
RTC or USAR footwear shall conform to the respective mandatory requirements (indicated by X and
O) given in Table 2 below. Where additional performance features are claimed (indicated by *), the
footwear shall conform to the requirements in 6.3 to 6.7.
4 © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Table 2 — Summary of requirements

Classification of specific rescue activity RTC USAR
Class Class
This docu- Subclause of
Requirement Marking
ment ISO 20345:2011
I II I II
Design Height of upper (B, C, D, E) 5.2.2 X X X X
Seat region 5.2.3 X X X X
Whole
Sole performance: 5.3.1
footwear
—  Construction 5.3.1.1 X N/A X N/A
—  Upper/outsole bond strength 5.3.1.2 X N/A X N/A
Toe protection: 5.3.2
—  General 5.3.2.1 X X X X
—  Internal length of toecaps 5.3.2.2 X X X X
—  Impact resistance 5.3.2.3 X X X X
—  Compression resistance 5.3.2.4 X X X X
—  Behaviour of toecaps 5.3.2.5 X X X X
Leakproofness 5.3.3 N/A X N/A X
Water resistance 6.5.1 X N/A X N/A WR
Specific ergonomic features 5.3.4 X X X X
Slip resistance (for more details, see
5.3.5
Annex D:
—  Slip resistance on ceramic tile floor with
5.3.5.4 X X X X
NaLS and on steel floor with glycerine (SRC)
Whole footwear Electrical properties 6.5.2 X X X X
—  Electrically insulating footwear
EN 50321:1999,
6.5.2.1
5.3
—  Antistatic footwear
6.5.2.2
Cut resistance 6.2.8 X X X X CR
Penetration resistance 6.2.1 X X X X P
Flame resistance 6.3.2 X X * * FR
ISO 17249:2013,
Cut resistance by a hand-held chainsaw 6.4.1 * * * *
Figure 1
Metatarsal protection 6.4.2 * * * * M
Ankle protection 6.4.3 * * X X AN
Upper General 5.4.1 X N/A X N/A
Thickness 5.4.2 N/A X N/A X
Tear strength 5.4.3 X N/A X N/A
Tensile properties 5.4.4 X X X X
Flexing resistance 5.4.5 N/A X N/A X
Water vapour permeability and coefficient 5.4.6 X N/A X N/A
pH value 5.4.7 X N/A X N/A
Hydrolysis 5.4.8 N/A X N/A X
Chromium VI content 5.4.9 X N/A X N/A
Liquid penetration resistance 6.7.1 * * * * LPR
Table 2 (continued)
Classification of specific rescue activity RTC USAR
Class Class
This docu- Subclause of
Requirement Marking
ment ISO 20345:2011
I II I II
Vamp lining
Tear strength 5.5.1 X O X O
Abrasion resistance 5.5.2 X O X O
Water vapour permeability and coefficient 5.5.3 X O X O
pH value 5.5.4 X O X O
Chromium VI content 5.5.5 X O X O
Quarter
Tear strength 5.5.1 O O O O
lining
Abrasion resistance 5.5.2 O O O O
Water vapour permeability and coefficient 5.5.3 O O O O
pH value 5.5.4 O O O O
Chromium VI content 5.5.5 O O O O
Insole/
Insulation against heat Table 3 X O X O
Insock
Tongue Tear strength 5.6.1 O O O O
pH value 5.6.2 O O O O
Chromium VI content 5.6.3 O O O O
Outsole Design 5.8.1 X X X X
Tear strength 5.8.2 X X X X
Abrasion resistance 5.8.3 X X X X
Flexing resistance 5.8.4 X X X X
Hydrolysis 5.8.5 X X X X
Interlayer bond strength 5.8.6 O O O O
Resistance to hot contact 6.4.1 X X X X HRO
Resistance to fuel oil 6.4.2 X X X X FO
Insulation against heat 6.3.1 X X X X HI
NOTE  The applicability of a requirement is indicated in the table by the following:
X  means that a requirement shall be met. In some case the requirement relates only to particular materials e.g. pH of leather components. This does not
mean that other materials are precluded.
O  means that if a component part exists, the requirement shall be met
*  means that if the property is claimed, the requirement given in the appropriate clause shall be met
means that it is obligatory that one of the requirements are met
6.3 Thermal requirements
6.3.1 Insulation against heat
When tested according to the procedure described in ISO 20344:2011, 5.12 the footwear shall meet the
requirements for the temperature inside the footwear (Table 3) and the requirements for resistance to
degradation (Table 4).
Table 3 — Requirement for temperature inside the footwear
Sandbath temperature (°C) 250
Inside temperature of the footwear (°C) <42 after 10 min
6 © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Table 4 — Requirement for resistance to degradation
Sandbath temperature (°C) 250
Test duration 20 min
Assessment After testing footwear shall conform to A.2.1
6.3.2 Flame resistance
6.3.2.1 Sampling and conditioning
All different external materials, including external seams, labels and closing mechanisms, as provided,
as a complete sample of footwear shall be tested in accordance with ISO 15025 as modified in below.
6.3.2.2 Procedure
6.3.2.2.1 Place the burner (see Figure 2) on a flat, horizontal surface with the burner and flame in a
vertical position.
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