The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions
Ronald Heus,
Boris R. M. Kingma,
Birgit M. A. van Berlo,
Douwe Mol,
Hein A. M. Daanen,
Kalev Kuklane
Affiliations
Ronald Heus
Netherlands Academy of Crisis Management and Fire Service Science, Team Fire Service Science, Netherlands Institute for Public Safety, Zilverstraat 91, 2718 RP Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Boris R. M. Kingma
Human Performance Department, Unit Defence, Safety and Security, Netherlands Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Kampweg 5, 3769 DE Soesterberg, The Netherlands
Birgit M. A. van Berlo
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Douwe Mol
Human Performance Department, Unit Defence, Safety and Security, Netherlands Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Kampweg 5, 3769 DE Soesterberg, The Netherlands
Hein A. M. Daanen
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kalev Kuklane
Netherlands Academy of Crisis Management and Fire Service Science, Team Fire Service Science, Netherlands Institute for Public Safety, Zilverstraat 91, 2718 RP Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
During the early stage of a fire, a process operator often acts as the first responder and may be exposed to high heat radiation levels. The present limit values of long- (>15 min) and short-term exposure (2, respectively, have been set using physiological models and manikin measurements. Since human validation is essentially lacking, this study investigated whether operators’ protective clothing offers sufficient protection during a short-term deployment. Twelve professional firefighters were exposed to three radiation levels (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kW/m2) when wearing certified protective clothing in front of a heat radiation panel in a climatic chamber (20 °C; 50% RH). The participants wore only briefs (male) or panties and a bra (female) and a T-shirt under the operators’ clothing. Skin temperatures were continuously measured at the chest, belly, forearm, thigh, and knee. The test persons had to stop if any skin temperature reached 43 °C, at their own request, or when 5 min of exposure was reached. The experiments showed that people in operators’ clothing can be safely exposed for 5 min to 1.5 kW/m2, up to 3 min to 2.0 kW/m2, and exposure to 2.5 kW/m2 or above must be avoided unless the clothing can maintain an air gap.
