On May 21, 2020, the Textiles Committee, Mumbai (Maharashtra) of Ministry of Textiles was named as the ninth approved laboratory to test and certify Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) body coveralls produced in the country for healthcare workers and other COVID-19 warriors.
- The Textiles Committee has worked hard to develop the testing equipment namely “Synthetic Blood Penetration Testing equipment” for Determination of the resistance of Protective Clothing materials to penetration by blood and body fluids.
- The National accreditation body NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories) has audited the lab facility of Textile Committee and has approved it under three test standards: ASTM F1670/ 16an70M:17a, ISO 16603: 2004 & IS 16546: 2016.
India becomes world’s second largest manufacturer of PPE body coveralls:
India has become the world’s second largest manufacturer of personal protective equipment (PPE) body coveralls within two months, following China. PPE body coveralls are crucial to safeguard against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
China is the world’s leading producer of PPE body coveralls, crucial to safeguard against the COVID-19 pandemic.
PPE testing process
The laboratory set up to test the PPEs has to be accredited by the NABL. After that, a Unique Certification Code has been passed to test the samples submitted by the manufacturers of PPEs. Details of all UCC Certificates are available on the official websites of DRDO, OFB (Ordnance Factory Board) and SITRA, for verification by the public.
- M/s HLL Lifecare Limited is the designated single-window procurement agency for the hospitals and healthcare organisations under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
Other approved labs for PPE testing:
The eight other labs are: (i) South India Textiles Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (ii) DRDO-INMAS, New Delhi, (iii) Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi, Chennai (iv) Small Arms Factory, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (v) Ordnance Factory, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (vi) Ordnance Factory, Muradnagar, Uttar Pradesh (vii) Ordnance Factory, Ambernath, Maharashtra and (viii) Metal & Steel Factory, Ishapore, West Bengal. All these laboratories have been accredited by NABL.
About Textile Committee:
The Textiles Committee is a statutory body established in 1963 through an Act of Parliament and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. It was formed to ensure the quality of textiles and textile machinery both for internal consumption and export purpose.
Textile Committee Secretary– Ajit Chavan
Union Textile Minister– Smriti Zubin Irani
