Original scientific paper
Investigation of the condition of firefighters’ protective clothing using a questionnaire
Anica Hursa Šajatović
orcid.org/0000-0002-3394-3115
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Zvonko Dragčević
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Daniela Zavec Pavlinić
; Titera d.o.o., Murska Sobota, Slovenia
Marina Čupić
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Garment protecting the body from the impact of heat and flame is used at numerous workplaces (in oil refineries, gas industry, foundries, in glass industry, in firefighting, on airplane carriers, oil rigs, by the members of civil defence, army personnel, etc.). It should be manufactured from the materials resistant to high temperatures and burning. The work presented here investigated the characteristics of firefighters’' protective clothing under the conditions of actual use. Firefighters are, due to specific working conditions of their job, exposed to the danger of burns and other possible injuries. Adequate clothing systems, employed to protect their health, are essential, together with the overall equipment used to protect from heat and flame, as they influence their efficiency in performing their duty and tasks. The experimental part of this paper includes a questionnaire on using the firefighters clothing, as well as the analysis of the questionnaire. The investigation was performed on 138 respondents, members of the professional and volunteer fire brigades. The interviews involved the members of Public Fire Brigade in Zagreb, Zagreb Centre, Dubrava, the town of Karlovac, as well as the Volunteer Fire brigades in Dubrava and Karlovac. The purpose of the investigation was to acquire data on the type of intervention firefighters' clothing, the methods of its use and care, as well as on the satisfaction of the firefighters and their familiarity with the clothing that they use in accidental and dangerous situations.
Keywords
firefighters' protective clothing; firefighters; questionnaire
Hrčak ID:
186573
URI
Publication date:
27.3.2017.
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