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Ergonomics of Firefighting Protective Clothing: A Short Review on Fit and Sizing Issues

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Human Systems Engineering and Design III (IHSED 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1269))

Abstract

Firefighting is considered one of the most challenging professions. Personal protective equipment plays a crucial role in protecting firefighters against numerous occupational hazards. Despite the advances in materials technology, current firefighting personal protective clothing is considered heavy, bulk, stiff, and thick. Many studies evaluated firefighters’ perceptions of current equipment. Fit and sizing are frequently reported as issues in firefighting protective clothing. This paper provides a literature review with the objective of offering a better understanding of how fit and sizing of firefighting protective clothing have been addressed by researchers. A review of the main issues faced by firefighters as well as a synthesis of suggestions for improved design and better purchasing as reported in the literature are provided.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The personal protective equipment worn in structural and proximity firefighting, for example, is different from the equipment worn in wildland firefighting. A definition of structural and proximity firefighting and wildland firefighting is available in the NFPA 1971 - Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting and in the NFPA 1977 - Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting, respectively.

  2. 2.

    In this paper, we focus on Structural and Proximity Firefighting Protective Clothing, and more precisely, on coat and trousers, which will be referred as PPC from now on.

  3. 3.

    Such as the U.S. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), European Standards Committees (EN), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

References

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the 2C2T-Centre for Textile Science and Technology of the University of Minho. This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitive Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136, by national funds through the FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/CTM/000264, by Fundo de Apoio às Vítimas dos Incêndios de Pedrógão, and by ICC/Lavoro.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Textile Engineering, University of Minho, Campus Azurem, Guimaraes, Portugal

    Anna S. P. Moraes, Miguel A. F. Carvalho, Rachel S. Boldt & Fernando B. N. Ferreira

  2. Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Minho, Campus Azurem, Guimaraes, Portugal

    Fernando M. Duarte

  3. Department of Textiles and Apparel, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Susan P. Ashdown

  4. Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    Linsey Griffin

Authors
  1. Anna S. P. Moraes
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  2. Miguel A. F. Carvalho
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  3. Rachel S. Boldt
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  4. Fernando B. N. Ferreira
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  5. Fernando M. Duarte
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  6. Susan P. Ashdown
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  7. Linsey Griffin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna S. P. Moraes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Florida, Winter Park, FL, USA

    Waldemar Karwowski

  2. Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Tareq Ahram

  3. Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Pula, Croatia

    Darko Etinger

  4. Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Pula, Croatia

    Nikola Tanković

  5. Campus du Moulin de la Housse, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, GRESPI, Reims Cedex 2, France

    Redha Taiar

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Moraes, A.S.P. et al. (2021). Ergonomics of Firefighting Protective Clothing: A Short Review on Fit and Sizing Issues. In: Karwowski, W., Ahram, T., Etinger, D., Tanković, N., Taiar, R. (eds) Human Systems Engineering and Design III. IHSED 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1269. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58282-1_48

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58282-1_48

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58281-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58282-1

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