Determination of a Comfort Class for Protective Clothing Based on Ergonomic Tests

Abstract

In addition to compliance with requirements concerning specific protective properties, protective clothing should also provide a sense of comfort to the user. No clearly identified evaluation criteria for the ergonomic properties of protective clothing is currently available. Methods applied do not allow for quantitative assessment of protective garments that enables to compare the various types of clothing. A new methodology of testing and ergonomic evaluation of protective clothing based on comparative studies of protective clothing versus reference clothing was developed herein. The use of reference garments enable a quantitative ergonomic assessment of protective clothing by placing it in an appropriate comfort class. Ergonomic studies in accordance with the methodology developed were carried out on two types of protective clothing, i.e. protective clothing for firefighters and clothing that protects against chemical agents. Based on these studies, the protective clothing was assigned to an appropriate comfort class.