The effects of firefighting boots and personal protective equipment load on foot thermal comfort

Abstract

Maintaining foot comfort is important as it influences the overall comfort of the human body. Shoe microclimate and foot skin temperature have been suggested to contribute to the thermal sensation of the foot. Considering the thermal environment and personal protective equipment (PPE) used for structural and proximity firefighting, climatic chamber tests with 13 male participants were conducted during standing and walking. Four test conditions – unloaded with training shoes, loaded with training shoes, unloaded with firefighting boots, and loaded with firefighting boots – were designed to investigate the effects of firefighting boots and PPE load on the thermal comfort of the human foot. Physiological variables of in-shoe and foot skin temperature at the whole and local regions of the foot were measured and subjective responses were gathered using psychological scales. The results showed that wearing firefighting boots may elevate the thermal sensation of wearers. The PPE load increased the in-shoe and foot skin temperature as well as subjective ratings. Subjective sensations of the foot were strongly correlated with in-shoe and skin temperature in the plantar regions. Correlation analysis of thermal sensation at the whole and local foot regions indicated that the sensation at the forefoot was closest to the whole foot, followed by the midfoot and heel. The findings address the relationship of physiological and subjective variables as well as the thermal sensation of whole and local foot regions, which can be considered for footwear design and thermal comfort prediction of the foot and whole body.

A review of the injuries caused by occupational footwear

“…Regarding the countries in which the studies were conducted, 3 of the 27 studies were conducted in Australia [ 24 , 25 , 35 ], another 3 in Spain [ 5 , 23 , 33 ], 3 in the USA [ 19 , 32 , 34 ], 1 in Colombia [ 18 ], 1 in China [ 31 ], 1 in Paraguay [ 17 ], 2 in Greece [ 27 , 36 ], 1 in Japan [ 21 ], 1 in Ethiopia [ 20 ], 2 in Germany [ 2 , 30 ], 2 in Iran [ 29 , 37 ], 1 in Bolivia [ 4 ] and 1 in Latvia [ 28 ].…”

“…Most of the studies ( n = 5) were conducted in the setting of a hospital [ 17–21 ]. Others were conducted in miners ( n = 2) [ 24 , 25 ], seafarers ( n = 1) [ 5 ], the wine industry ( n = 1) [ 35 ], farmers (n = 2) [ 34 , 37 ], aerobics instructors ( n = 1) [ 36 ], firefighters ( n = 2) [ 31 , 32 ], aircraft and automotive industry workers ( n = 1) [ 2 ], and military personnel ( n = 4) [ 27–30 ]. They were also carried out in industries with the support of universities ( n = 1) [ 4 ] or researching different sectors at the same time ( n = 4) [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 23 , 33 ].…”

“…On the other hand, podiatric problems, foot pain and the comfort of occupational footwear were not the only factors studied. Other factors such as foot temperature [ 31 ], impaired balance, gait and stability of the individual [ 2 , 32 ], performance with respect to the required tasks [ 3 ], and possible allergies to footwear materials [ 33 ] may be relevant when it comes to favouring injuries or decreasing comfort. Similarly, the context in which each job was carried out also had an influence.…”

Development of Air Ventilation Garments with Small Fan Panels to Improve Thermal Comfort

“…Then, the experiment leaders put the sensors on the left side of the subject's body. The sensors were an ibutton wireless temperature logger (Maxim, CA, USA) with a diameter of 17.35 mm and thickness of 5.89 mm [35]. The ibutton sensors were set to measure the skin temperature at 15 s interval.…”