A
- Auto-condemn
- Automatic withdrawal of a garment from service triggered by the compliance rule engine without manual intervention. Occurs when a garment reaches its wash count limit, calendar life expiry, or fails a hard-fail inspection point. The garment is immediately blocked from dispatch and a condemnation record is created with the triggering ISO clause reference.
B
- Body map
- A visual representation of the front and back of a garment used during inspection to record the precise coordinates of defects. Body map coordinates are stored with the inspection record, enabling auditors to review exactly where damage was found and whether it falls within a structurally critical zone.
C
- Calendar life
- The maximum permitted age of a garment from manufacture date or first issue date, regardless of wash count. Fire service PPE standards set calendar life limits per category — for example, EN 469 structural jackets are commonly retired at 10 years from manufacture. The compliance engine tracks calendar life separately from wash life.
- Compliance pack
- A document bundle produced on demand for a specific client contract, covering a defined period. Typically includes: garment register with current statuses and wash counts, wash compliance summary with temperature and programme data, inspection history with full checklists and inspector competency evidence, condemned garments list with ISO clause references, and a certificate appendix. With Vorrex, a compliance pack is generated in under four seconds.
- Contamination report
- A formal record created when a garment is suspected or confirmed to carry CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear) contamination. ISO 23616 requires specific handling, segregation, and — for garments with unidentified agents — mandatory destruction. Contamination reports link to the triggering incident and the subsequent disposition decision.
- Coverage gap
- A state in which a wearer does not have the full set of PPE required for their role and shift. Detected automatically by the protection engine by checking each wearer's assigned garments against their entitlement set. Coverage gaps trigger alerts to the laundry operations team and, via the client portal, to the brigade H&S manager.
D
- Decontamination bag
- A sealed, labelled container used to transport garments with suspected or confirmed contamination from brigade to laundry. The bag creates a chain of custody record and triggers a contamination handling workflow on arrival at the sort bench.
- Dwell time
- The time a garment spends at a specific stage in the laundry cycle without progressing — for example, waiting in the sort queue or held in a repair bay. Excessive dwell time is a leading indicator of SLA risk. The system flags items whose dwell time approaches or exceeds defined thresholds.
E
- Entitlement
- The defined set of PPE items that a wearer is contractually entitled to hold at any one time, specified per PPE category and quantity. Entitlements are configured in the billing contract and drive the protection engine's coverage calculations. A wearer is only considered covered when all entitlement lines are met.
G
- Garment lifecycle
- The complete journey of a garment from new stock through active service to condemnation and disposal. Every phase — receiving, sorting, washing, drying, inspection, repair, dispatch, issue to wearer, soiled return, and condemnation — is tracked individually. Every move is recorded and cannot be altered, giving you a permanent, auditable history for every item.
- Goods in
- The receiving workflow at the laundry dock where soiled garments returned from a brigade are scanned, counted, and checked against the expected collection manifest. Discrepancies are flagged immediately. Each scanned garment is logged as received and queued for the sort bench — creating the chain-of-custody record that starts the wash compliance trail.
H
- Hard fail
- An inspection finding that mandates immediate condemnation and withdrawal from service, regardless of wash count or calendar life. Hard-fail criteria are defined per PPE category under ISO 23616. Examples include structural damage to the outer shell, delamination of the moisture barrier, and contamination with an unidentified agent. A garment with a hard fail cannot be passed back to service under any circumstances.
I
- ISO 15797
- International standard covering industrial washing and finishing procedures for work clothing. Specifies test methods for verifying that commercial laundry processes maintain garment performance. Relevant to PPE laundries as it defines the basis for wash programme validation and temperature compliance recording.
- ISO 23616
- ISO 23616:2024 — the international standard for the cleaning, inspection, repair, and management of firefighters' personal protective equipment. Covers all 7 PPE categories (structural jackets, structural trousers, proximity suits, chemical suits, helmets, gloves, hoods) and defines requirements for wash records, inspection checklists, condemnation criteria, and record retention. UK fire brigade contracts increasingly reference ISO 23616 as a minimum supplier requirement.
L
- Loaner set
- A temporary replacement PPE set issued to a wearer while their primary garments are in the laundry cycle. The system tracks loaner assignments separately from permanent entitlements, ensuring the wearer remains covered and the loaner items are recalled when the primary set returns from service.
N
- NCR
- Non-Conformance Report. A formal record raised when a compliance deviation is identified — for example, a garment dispatched beyond its wash limit, a missing inspection certificate, or a wash batch that failed temperature compliance. NCRs are managed through a defined resolution workflow and retained for audit purposes.
P
- Pick list
- A system-generated list of specific garments to be pulled from clean stock and loaded onto a delivery vehicle for a scheduled brigade collection. Pick lists are generated automatically based on outstanding orders, wearer entitlements, and available stock — operators scan each item to confirm picking.
- Protection engine
- The part of Vorrex that monitors wearer PPE coverage continuously. It checks every active wearer's issued garments against their entitlement — daily, on every garment movement, and hourly as a safety net. Coverage gaps are surfaced to the laundry operations team and to the brigade's H&S manager within minutes of arising, so no firefighter goes to shift without compliant kit.
R
- Reproof
- The application of a durable water repellent (DWR) or other performance-restoring treatment to a garment after laundering. Reproof intervals are tracked per garment per category. The system flags garments due for reproofing and records each application as a maintenance event.
S
- Sling
- A cargo net or mesh bag used to transport garments through the wash hall. Slings carry a barcoded label that is scanned when loaded, enabling the system to link individual garment UIDs to a specific wash batch and machine programme.
- Sort bench
- The workstation at which soiled returned garments are inspected for obvious damage, segregated by category, and assigned to wash queues. The sort bench kiosk terminal guides the operator through the sort decision for each scanned garment — routing it to the appropriate wash programme or escalating to a full inspection.
- Structural jacket
- The primary firefighting outer layer — typically a 3-layer composite of outer shell, moisture barrier, and thermal liner. The highest-compliance PPE category, subject to the most stringent inspection, wash, and calendar life requirements under ISO 23616 and EN 469.
W
- Wash count
- The cumulative number of industrial wash cycles a garment has completed since manufacture or last deep inspection. Wash count limits are set per PPE category by the manufacturer and ISO standard. The compliance engine tracks wash count against the applicable limit and triggers auto-condemnation when the limit is reached.
- Wash hall
- The processing area of a laundry facility where garments are washed, extracted, and dried. In a Vorrex-managed facility, the wash hall kiosk terminal records machine assignment, programme selection, wash temperature, and batch completion — creating the temperature compliance record required by ISO 23616.
- Wash life
- The remaining number of wash cycles a garment can undergo before reaching its wash count limit. Displayed on the garment record and included in compliance packs. Garments with low remaining wash life are prioritised for inspection to determine whether condemnation should occur before the limit is reached.
- Wearer
- An individual — typically a firefighter — who is assigned PPE garments under a brigade contract. Each wearer has a profile with their entitlement set, current issued garments, coverage status, and PPE history. Wearers can access their own profile via the Vorrex Me wearer app.
Z
- Zone
- A physical or logical area within a laundry facility — for example, goods in, sort bench, wash hall, drying, inspection, repair, dispatch. Zones are the unit of operational routing and real-time visibility. The kiosk terminal at each zone presents only the tasks and controls relevant to that zone's function.