Personnel Protection (Surface Temperature)
Personnel protection means insulating hot equipment so its accessible outer surface stays cool enough to touch safely - commonly a target of about 45-60 degrees C - to prevent contact burns. It is a primary reason to insulate bare valves, flanges and pipes in occupied areas, alongside energy saving.
Bare metal surfaces above roughly 60 degrees C can cause burns on contact, and guidance such as EN ISO 13732-1 relates burn risk to surface temperature and contact time. Insulation lowers the outer-surface temperature into a safe band - a typical specification keeps touchable surfaces at or below about 45 degrees C - protecting workers without caging off the equipment.
Personnel-protection insulation is often applied to exactly the irregular components (valves, flanges, steam traps) that are hardest to lag permanently, which is where fitted removable jackets are used: they deliver both the safe surface temperature and the energy saving while still allowing maintenance access.
Related reading
Related terms
Surface Temperature · Thermal Insulation · Removable Insulation · Heat Loss · Turndown Ratio