Abstract
In firefighting, fit and sizing of personal protective equipment are directly related with the protection level, work performance, and comfort of firefighters. Furthermore, proper fit and sizing depend on appropriate sizing systems and the validity of the data from which they were constructed. Thus, anthropometric data are paramount for personal protective equipment design. Despite recent studies, anthropometric databases on firefighters are still very limited. Aiming to fulfill this shortcoming as well as to understand if Portuguese firefighters’ protective equipment is adjusted to their anthropometrics, a study designated as Size FF Portugal – Anthropometric Study of Portuguese Firefighters is currently underway. This paper presents a preliminary comparison of anthropometric data of firefighters from two different fire brigades: a mixed brigade and a professional brigade. Results of an initial analysis show that participants from the professional brigade were on average 29 mm taller than participants from the mixed brigade. Moreover, participants from the mixed brigade were on average 6.93 kg heavier. Further, results of inferential ANOVA test at a 95% confidence level revealed statistically significant differences of the stature and weight between career-volunteer firefighters from the mixed brigade and career firefighters from the professional brigade. Furthermore, an examination of Body Mass Index revealed that 71.88% of all participants from the mixed brigade as well as 41.58% of participants from the professional brigade were considered above the normal weight range. Differences of anthropometric measurements between the two fire brigades reveal the relevance in developing a more comprehensive yet detailed anthropometric database of Portuguese firefighters.
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Notes
- 1.
Including firefighting and fire prevention occupations, police, detectives, and guards.
- 2.
NC170 Multistate Project – Personal Protective Technologies for Current and Emerging Occupational Hazards.
- 3.
BMI = weight/height2 (kg/m2).
- 4.
According to the Decree-Law no. 247/2007 [19], Portuguese fire brigades are classified into 4 types: professional fire brigades, mixed fire brigades, volunteer fire brigades, and private fire brigades. Professional fire brigades have exclusively career firefighters and depend on a municipality. Mixed fire brigades depend on a municipality or an association of firefighters and have both career firefighters and volunteer firefighters.
- 5.
Hereafter referred to as MB.
- 6.
Career firefighters serving in mixed brigades may also offer their services on a volunteer basis. In this fire brigade, career firefighters usually volunteer during night shifts and weekend shifts.
- 7.
Part-time firefighters who voluntarily offer their services in firefighting. In this brigade, volunteer firefighters serve during night and weekend shifts.
- 8.
Hereafter referred to as PB.
- 9.
Some participants decided to interrupt their participation and others were not available to conclude all data collection stages.
- 10.
However, many participants of the PB did not complete all data collection stages. Due to this limitation, some data were not discussed in this paper, such as participants’ average age and years of experience in firefighting.
- 11.
Weight, PB: 109.7 kg > 76.72 + 3*9.96 kg.
- 12.
Statistic F for mean stature was 3.08767 (not in the 95% critical value accepted range: [−∞: 3.0658]).
- 13.
Statistic F for mean weight was 7.52212 (not in the 95% critical value accepted range: [−∞: 3.0658]).
- 14.
Difference 31.87 mm; p-value = 0.04789.
- 15.
Difference 11.04 mm; p-value = 0.88988.
- 16.
Difference 20.82 mm; p-value = 0.60026.
- 17.
Difference 9.42 kg; p-value = 0.00057.
- 18.
Difference 9.97 kg; p-value = 0.06593.
- 19.
Difference 0.55 kg; p-value = 0.98967.
- 20.
According to the study: stature, body weight, acromiale height, crotch height, and some circumference measurements (hip girth and chest girth).
- 21.
Referred as permanent firefighters and including both active and non-active firefighters.
- 22.
According to the study: stature, body weight, and some circumference measurements.
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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.F., Boldt, R.S., Ferreira, F.B.N., Ashdown, S.P., Griffin, L. (2022). Firefighters’ Anthropometrics: A Comparison Between Two Portuguese Fire Brigades. In: Black, N.L., Neumann, W.P., Noy, I. (eds) Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021). IEA 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 223. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74614-8_12
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