Fire-fighters’ personal protective clothing is the only source of protection for fire-fighters during fire-fighting. The protective clothing should provide adequate protection as well as should be comfortable to wear. The protection and comfort requirements are always the contradicting fact in several protective clothing including fire-fighters’. Appropriate material selection, clothing design ...

Heat and mechanical protection properties of 6 fabric combinations commonly used in firefighters' protective clothing were assessed before and after different heat treatment. It was shown that after heat exposure, the values obtained were generally lower than in the original state. The mechanical properties of the materials were more affected by heat than by heat protective properties. In 2 cas...

Anti-vibration gloves have been used in real workplaces to reduce vibration transmitted through hand-held power tools to the hand. Generally materials used for vibration attenuation in gloves are resilient materials composed of certain synthetic and/or composite polymers. The mechanical characteristics of the resilient materials used in anti-vibration gloves are prone to be influenced by enviro...

In the year 2000, a paper entitled ‘‘A Heat Transfer Model for Firefighters’ Protective Clothing’’ was published in Volume 36, No. 1, of Fire Technology, and it received the 2001 Harry C. Bigglestone Award for Excellence in Written Communication of Fire Protection Concepts from The Fire Protection Research Foundation. Since the publication of this paper, there has been additional development of...

Protection against harmful chemical materials is compulsory in many aspects of everyday life. Proper and adequate protective clothing is desirable during household chores and in industrial, agricultural, and medical work, during military operations; and in response to incidents of terrorism. Different types of materials and garment designs are used in these clothing items, and protection levels...

The purpose of protective clothing and other personal protective equipment (PPE) is to provide escape time, to reduce the burn injury level, and to prevent aggravation of the consequences to workers during exposure to an electric arc. In this study the flammability properties of 12 different types of flame-retardant fabrics were compared with the normally used flame spread test method (EN 532:1...

A collaborative approach, involving resources and expertise from several countries, was used to develop a test cell to measure cumulative permeation by a solid-state collection technique. The new technique was developed to measure the permeation of pesticide active ingredients and other chemicals with low vapor pressure that would otherwise be difficult to test via standard techniques. The deve...

OBJECTIVE To assess maternal and child risk compensation behaviors in response to several commonly used safety measures. METHODS We administered a previously validated self-report measure of risk tolerance to a total of 151 mothers and their children in grades 3-7. Mothers indicated the level of risk they would permit their child to assume; children were questioned regarding the degree of phy...