Comfort of personal protective equipment

The degree of comfort of personal protective equipment (PPE) was investigated in an automobile encapsulating plant. Up to 96.2% of employees used one or a combination of PPE. Only 8% of the workers felt their respirators were comfortable, 30% tolerated their respirators, and 62% rated them as uncomf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied ergonomics 1995-06, Vol.26 (3), p.195-198
Main Authors: Akbar-Khanzadeh, Farhang, Bisesi, Michael S., Rivas, Ruben D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile production
comfort
Ergonomics
Factories
personal protective equipment
Protective clothing
subjective rating
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Summary:The degree of comfort of personal protective equipment (PPE) was investigated in an automobile encapsulating plant. Up to 96.2% of employees used one or a combination of PPE. Only 8% of the workers felt their respirators were comfortable, 30% tolerated their respirators, and 62% rated them as uncomfortable. The percentage of employees who rated their PPE (other than a respirator) as comfortable ranged from 32 to 52%. For comfort factor, coveralls/aprons rated 52%, safety glasses 51%, rubber gloves 42%, and hearing protectors 36%. PPE was tolerable (just acceptable) for about 30% of the employees. To increase the effectiveness and safety of PPE, the human-factor aspects of PPE design should be emphasized more and quality improvement should cover the wearability of PPE.
ISSN:0003-6870
1872-9126
DOI:10.1016/0003-6870(95)00017-7