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 antistatic 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;