Abstract
Personal Protective Equipment protects firefighters against multiple hazards. The fit and comfort of such equipment are directly related to proper sizing systems which in turn depend on accurate anthropometric data. To present design solutions to the equipment used by Portuguese firefighters, a study designated as Size FF Portugal – Anthropometric Study of Firefighters is currently underway. Forty-four firefighters participated in a pilot study conducted in a fire brigade in the North of Portugal. This paper contrasts preliminary anthropometric data of participants with an anthropometric database of Portuguese workers. Results of the Student T-test at 95% confidence level show significant differences between the stature of Portuguese male firefighters and Portuguese male workers. On the contrary, the weight of male firefighters and workers do not present significant differences. In the case of women, differences between workers and firefighters’ weight and stature are not observed. A discussion of the results and final considerations are presented.
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Notes
- 1.
Provided by the study.
- 2.
Some participants decided to interrupt their participation and others were not available to conclude all data collection stages.
- 3.
In this fire brigade, career firefighters also offer their services on a volunteer basis in the hours that they are not regularly paid. Career firefighters usually volunteer during night shifts and weekend shifts.
- 4.
The null hypothesis proposed no difference between the population variances of each considered measurement (H0: σFF = σWK).
- 5.
H0 rejected at a 0.05 level of significance.
- 6.
Firefighting and fire prevention occupations, police and detectives, and guards.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the 2C2T-Centre for Textile Science and Technology of the University of Minho. This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitive Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136, by national funds through the FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/CTM/000264, by Fundo de Apoio às Vítimas dos Incêndios de Pedrógão, and by ICC/Lavoro.
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Moraes, A.S.P., Carvalho, M.A., Boldt, R.S., Ferreira, F.N., Ashdown, S.P., Griffin, L. (2021). Portuguese Firefighters Anthropometrics: A Preliminary Comparison with Portuguese Workers. In: Rebelo, F. (eds) Advances in Ergonomics in Design. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 261. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79760-7_5
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