Citation

Majumdar D, Srivastava KK, Purkayastha SS, Pichan G, Selvamurthy W. Int. J. Ind. Ergonomics 1997; 20(2): 155-161.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The effect of wearing two widely used body armours (BA) weighing 9.0 kg and 11.0 kg by the security personnel in India was evaluated. Six male soldiers underwent treadmill exercise in the laboratory (26-28[deg]C) at a fixed speed of 2.2 m [middle dot] sec-1 for 10 minutes with and without wearing the 11.0 kg BA over their regular uniform. Six other soldiers were exposed to a hot humid climatic chamber (34[deg]C Wet Bulb Globe Temperature/60% relative humidity) with and without 11.0 kg BA for one hour with light physical exercise. Pulmonary function test was conducted on 16 soldiers with 9.0 kg, 11.0 kg BA and without it. The heart rate (HR), minute ventilation (VE) and oxygen uptake (VO2) on wearing the 11.0 kg BA increased significantly (p -1, 9.4 1 [middle dot] min-1 and 6.0 ml [middle dot] kg-1 min-1 respectively, for HR, VE, and VO2. In hot humid exposure the HR and mean skin temperature () with 11.0 kg BA also increased significantly (p less than 0.05) as compared to without wearing it during exercise. Pulmonary functions deteriorated significantly with wearing BA and recorded further decrease with increase in weight of the armour. The significant increase in energy cost of physical task, increase cardiovascular strain in hot humid exposure and increase restrictive ventilatory effect which have been found when BA is worn have important practical implications. It is expected that the BA wearer would develop early onset of fatigue if they are to carry out the same task at the same rate as before without wearing BA. These factors need due consideration when planning work/rest cycles of BA wearer placed in demanding and/or endurance type of tasks.