Company is the First in Third-Party Performance Testing for Fire Safety During Welding
AMI prominently labels their products down to the core. You will find the FM Approved label on the outside packaging, printed along with the performance category on the product, and on the inner cardboard core of every hot work fabric.
2014 marks 10 years that Auburn Manufacturing, Inc has manufactured FM Approved hot work fabrics. AMI was the first to offer Approved (third-party certified) hot work fabrics in 2004, and today continues to lead the industry with over 21 products that are able to meet any hot work application. “We now have 21 different tested/rated products, including a first-ever modular Welding Pad we call Fire QuiltTM. Since we began offering only FM Approved products we have not had a single complaint about product performance. That’s a testament to the importance of such testing and product labeling requirements associated with certification,” says AMI President and CEO Kathie Leonard.
AMI VIGOROUSLY CAMPAIGNED FOR SAFETY
AMI has long been a major player in helping to develop enhanced safety standards for hot work. “When it comes to fabrics and fire, safety must always be our top priority,” said Leonard. 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the first performance-based standard for fire blankets, a standard that AMI vigorously campaigned to develop. “It was a game changer,” explained Leonard who worked closely with FM Approvals, a nationally recognized testing laboratory, in helping to develop ANSI/FM 4950 Welding Pads, Welding Blankets and Welding Curtains for Hot Work Operations. “It set the bar for the safe use of hot work fabrics, and for the first time safety professionals, material buyers and welding supervisors had a standard they could use to quickly and accurately determine what level of fire protection was needed for a specific hot work application.”
CERTIFIED TO THE CORE – LABELING SETS AMI APART
NFPA 51B now requires welding blankets, curtains and pads for hot work operations be ‘Listed or Approved’ and also requires that hot work products be clearly labeled. AMI goes one step further and imprints the FM Approved rating not only on its hot work fabrics, but also on the packaging and on the labels affixed to the cardboard core to make it easy for inspectors or facility and safety management personnel to verify that the product being used is FM Approved. “Our goal as a supplier,” added Leonard, “is to make sure that every hot work job is properly protected with tested and approved fabrics. Today every major industry has adopted the use of FM Approved hot work products, not only in U.S. but around the world. The result is a much safer working environment as well as a much lower risk of costly industrial fires.”
AMI-GUARD® Fire Quilt™ is an FM Approved, ready-to go —’take it to the job site with you,’ modular hot work curtain, blanket and pad. Fire Quilt is reusable. It folds and packs away neatly and fits in any tool chest. It is water, oil and grease resistant.