As firefighting is considered one of the most dangerous professions, appropriate and comfortable protective clothing is essential. Working in a fire environment in unnatural conditions requires a highly specialised protective clothing. The firefighter personal protective clothing is designed to ensure protection against a number of factors, inter alia: damp, low and high temperatures, flame, and (at the basic level) the effects of hazardous chemicals, biological contamination and mechanical injury. Therefore, appropriate materials must be used to provide such a thorough protection.
The project ERGO FIREFIGHTER: assessment of comfort and ergonomics of protective clothing for firefighters vis a vis normative requirements in various European countries aims at assessing subjective perception of thermal comfort, physiological strain and ergonomics among firefighters wearing protective clothing.
Literature research as well as an analysis of potential smart wearable solutions to be applied in the protective clothing for firefighters will be done in order to improve firefighters’ safety and comfort. Moreover, stock will be taken of the requirements that must be met by the firefighters’ protective clothing and ways to improve these.
As a result, the knowledge of the problem of thermal discomfort perception among firefighters during rescue operations and the awareness of the influence of the fabric and materials used in the firefighter protective clothing on its ergonomics and thermal comfort qualities will increase. The project will also propose the alignment of firefighter protective clothing requirements across Europe. Read more …
Project leader:
Dr Magdalena Młynarczyk, CIOP-PIB
Dr Magdalena Młynarczyk, the head of the Thermal Load Laboratory at CIOP-PIB, is the project coordinator. Magdalena is a graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology and has been working at CIOP-PIB since 2009. She conducts research on thermal interaction between human body and environment in various working conditions; has an experience in research on human subjects as well as thermal manikins, and an expert knowledge of thermal load, ergonomics, thermal comfort, subjective assessment and protective clothing.