Citation

Holmér I, Kuklane K, Gao C. Int. J. Occup. Safety Ergonomics 2006; 12(3): 297-305.

Affiliation

Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. ingvar.holmer@design.lth.se.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16984788

Abstract

Five students of a rescue training school cycled at 50 W for 20 min at 20 degrees C before walking at 5 km/hr up to 30 min in a climatic chamber at 55 degrees C and 30% relative humidity. 4 different types of clothing ensembles differing in terms of thickness and thermal insulation value were tested on separate days. All subjects completed 28-30 min in light clothing, but quit after 20-27 min in 3 firefighter ensembles due to a rectal temperature of 39.0 degrees C or subjective fatigue. No difference in the evolution of mean skin or rectal temperature was seen for the 3 turnout ensembles. Sweat production amounted to about 1000 g in the turnout gears of which less than 20% evaporated. It was concluded that the small differences between the turnout gears in terms of design, thickness and insulation value had no effect on the resulting heat physiological strain for the given experimental conditions.

Language: en