• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.515-526
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• 2021

This study aimed to investigate the evaluation of firefighting gloves and the behavior regarding their usage, of firefighting officials in Seoul, using a questionnaire. Responses from a total of 270 firefighters who are responsible for putting out fires or undertaking rescue works in Seoul were analyzed. As per the findings, the firefighters considered ease of hand operation and fire/flame protection as the most important performance factors for firefighting gloves, and they were satisfied with the supply status of the gloves. The average number of firefighting gloves currently owned by the firefighters was 2.6 ± 0.8 pairs. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said that their firefighting gloves lasted, with maintained performance, for more than six months and less than a year, and when asked how they handled the gloves with degraded performance, 46% of them said that they would discard them. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said that they used the most recently developed and supplied gloves, which they considered as the most satisfying gloves and which they mainly used these days. Respondents were highly satisfied with the fire/flame protection performance of their firefighting gloves, but were less satisfied, however, with the glove fit. These results suggest that there has been a significant improvement in the overall performance level and supply status of the firefighting gloves. Given the current situation, careful considerations with flexible approaches are needed on the current firefighting gloves size system as well as on the personal protective equipment maintenance and management scheme.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.921-935
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• 2016

This research analyzed the manual performance of firefighting protective gloves on global markets in order to suggest an evaluation method for firefighting protective gloves wearing comfort. We collected 13 types of firefighting gloves from domestic and international markets (7 types from Korea, 3 types form Europe, 2 types from the U.S and 1 type from Japan). We set the Don-Doff test as a basal requirement for moving toward to further manual performance tests that consist of: ASTM dexterity test, Minnesota dexterity test, Bennett hand tool test and ASTM torque test. All gloves were evaluated in dry and wet conditions, we included eight current male firefighters ($43.4{\pm}7.0yr$ in age, $173.1{\pm}4.4cm$ in height, $79.9{\pm}9.2kg$ in body mass) for the tests. Four gloves (1 Korea, 1 U.S, 1 Germany, and 1 Japan) out of thirteen firefighting gloves passed the Don-Doff test and had great subject preferences. There was no significant difference between dry and wet conditions on the ASTM dexterity test, Minnesota dexterity test, Bennett hand tool test and ASTM torque test. However, Japanese gloves had the greatest score and showed 3-4 times faster completion time on the ASTM dexterity test (p<.05), 1.2-1.5 times faster on the Minnesota dexterity test (p<.05), as fast as the bare hand on Bennett hand tool test (p<.05), and greater performance on the ASTM torque test compared to bare hand. In conclusion, Don-Doff test in wet conditions should be the first step for a mobility evaluation of domestic firefighting protective gloves; subsequently, a comprehensive test assorting ASTM, Minnesota, and Bennett test should be developed as a second step. The current ASTM torque test can be adopted as a third step. This three-step-method for evaluating firefighting protective glove mobility can be expected to expand into surveys of other safety gloves in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.416-426
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• 2019

This study measured and analyzed male firefighters hand sizes as well as suggested data for developing firefighting gloves with a good fit. Accordingly, body dimensions related to the hand were measured for 100 male firefighters. Twenty-three measuring items related to the hand and lower arm were selected. The firefighters' measurement data were compared to general adult male measurements from the 6th Korean Anthropometric data to analyze the hand sizes characteristics of firefighters. As a result, height, hand circumference, hand breadth, wrist circumference, elbow-wrist length, forearm-fingertip length and firefighter weight were significantly larger than adult males. A correlation analysis for 23 items was conducted to select items used as standards for setting a size when manufacturing firefighting gloves. Hand length and circumference were selected as representative hand parts for making firefighting gloves. Cross analysis between hand length and circumference were conducted to find the section showing the highest distribution ratio. As a result, the highest sections were between 19cm and 21cm for hand circumference and between 18.5cm and 19.5cm for hand length, which may be suggested as the most important ranges.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.74-83
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• 2018

In order to secure safety and improve work efficiency of forest firefighting crews, performance evaluation criteria for safety gloves were developed. Since the standard for forest firefighting safety gloves is not available in Korea, we started the study based on the standard for firefighting safety gloves operated by KFI. 12 test items were selected excluding 5 test items out of the 17 test items through the consultation of stakeholders and the review of foreign standards. Two types of general safety gloves used by forest firefighting crews and one firefighting gloves were tested by applying KFI standard and the results were compared. Materials such as nylon or polyurethane which are weak to fire are not suitable for forest firefighting safety gloves. We compared the criteria of KFI, ISO 16073, NFPA 1977, NFPA 1971 and BS EN 659, and finally selected 12 test items and acceptance criteria suitable for the work environment of forest firefighting crews in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.950-965
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• 2017

This present study proposed a newly developed test method to evaluate the dexterity and mobility of a firefighter's protective gloves. The first step evaluated the mobility and dexterity of the current type of fire protective gloves and three new types of protective gloves using Don-doff test, ASTM dexterity, Minnesota dexterity, Bennett hand tool test, and ASTM torque test. Three firefighters ($47.3{\pm}5.0yr$ in age, $178.6{\pm}2.9cm$ in height) participated in a series of experiments. The second step was to design and suggest an integrated test method based on the results of the first experiment. As a result of the first experiment, we concluded that 1) the mobility and dexterity tests for firefighting gloves should include both wet and dry tests, 2) The three kinds of dexterity tests could be integrated into one test, and 3) The don-doff test and the torque test should be independent from the newly developed integrated test. In summary, we suggested a simplified test method that combined ASTM dexterity, Minnesota dexterity, and Bennett hand tool test. The integrated system can reduce total time spent on dexterity tests and improve the validity of the test in terms of firefighters' manual work.

• Journal of Korean Living Environment System
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate comfort functions while wearing firefighters' protective gloves in dry and wet conditions at $70^{\circ}C$ air temperature with radiant heat. Four types of firefighting gloves from Korea, Germany, United States, and Japan were evaluated in both dry and wet conditions by eight male firefighters. Firefighters put their hands and forearms wearing gloves into a hands-radiant chamber that maintained at an air temperature of $70{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ ($T_a$) and globe temperature $106^{\circ}C$ ($T_g$). During the exposure, subjects followed a fixed protocol of manual movements and stopped the exposure when they felt being intolerable. Results showed that completion time was extended by 6 min on average when gloves got wet and 15 min for the Japanese gloves was extended when compared to its dry condition (p<.001); microclimate humidity on the palm at the last stage was greater for wet conditions than dry conditions in the all gloves; and skin temperatures on mid-fingertip, palm, and hand were significantly lower for wet conditions than dry conditions especially for Japanese gloves (p<.001). These results indicate that the exposure time without thermal pain to radiant heat could be extended by wetting gloves during the low radiant heat exposure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.136-147
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze four cases of firefighter burns in various fire scenes and to find prevention measures to decrease firefighter injuries. Among the analysis reports prepared by the National Fire Research Institute of Korea from 2016 to 2020, four burn-related accidents are summarized and the main causes are conveyed. The four accidents include second-degree burns from using extinguishers during containment of fires; nine firefighters burned due to re-ignition in the LPG car repair shop; two firefighters injured with third-degree burns from using fire extinguishers during life-saving events in residential housing; and injuries from the radiant heat of the tank BLEVE near the factory fire. These cases are comprehensively investigated in their respective scenes and analyzed based on the fire site investigation reports from the fire department and related theoretical explanations of risk for each accident scene. In the third case study, some experimental research is conducted to evaluate the risk involved with the use of safety gloves. This is evaluated by reviewing Fire Tactics and Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) to determine improvements and recommendations for an efficient firefighting response. Results show that the main causes of burn accidents are the insufficient use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as safety gloves, and the failure to follow firefighting tactics or SOPs. Through the accident investigation and assessment, it is concluded that to reduce the frequency of burn accidents, the performance of firefighting equipment, SOPs, protection tactics, and safety policy systems require improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.37 no.12 s.142
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• pp.59-67
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• 1999

This study analyzed firefighter's actual wearing condition of turnout gear The results are as fellows: 1. When a firefighter is employed, Korea applies only the minimum of firefighters stature and weight but America applies both the minimum and the maximum. The choice of size is highly related with stature more than chest circumference. 2. The satisfaction degree of thermal barrier is very low, 3%. They used rubber gloves rather than heatproof gloves. This is more serious in small country like 'up', 'myun' than in cities. For laundering, they used sprinkling method with firefighting hose. Firefigthers hoped that their clothes could be classified tv the seasons and fire places. 3. frefighter had high unsatisfaction with the movement of hands and leges in the aspect of movement adjustability, air permeability, weight, body temperature regulation, and breathing in the hygenic aspect, fire resistance, thermal resistance property, water proof, chemical reactivity and electrical conductivity. Thev were also unsatisfied with water proof boots and gloves. They were generally satisfied with helmets but firefighters over 90kg of weight were rather unsatisfied. 4. The satisfaction degree for physical fitness was very low and the items with which they were not satisfied depend on physical features. 5. To develop turnout gear, they wanted changes in design, material and size. Reflection tape need to be replaced with high quality products and they wanted the use of velcro and zipper in fastening system.

• Journal of Korean Living Environment System
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.549-561
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• 2017

We conducted a nationalwide questionnaire to investigate accidental experiences and injuries at flashover or flame-fire for active firefighters in the line of duty. A total of 794 firefighters participated in this survey (764 males, 27 females, and 3 respondents; $39.2{\pm}8.4yr$ in age, $173.7{\pm}5.1cm$ in height, $73.4{\pm}8.6kg$ in body mass). The results showed that high risk circumstances the most frequently experienced while firefighting in Korea was flashover followed by backdraft, rollover and flameover. At the high risk circumstances the most frequently-experienced injuries were bruise, stabs and burns. Firefighters hoped to reduce the total mass of personal protective equipment (PPE), improve the mobility of the PPE and dexterity of protective gloves, so that they could escape from the high risk circumstances as fast as possible. In particular, requirements for improvement on protective gloves were greater than those on other PPE. The present study suggested that the need for improvements on the current firefighters' PPE to cope with emergency high risk situations in terms of PPE mass reduction and mobility.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.520-533
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• 2023

The present study developed a test protocol for evaluating the mobility of firefighting chemical and flame personal protective equipment (PPE) for the National 119 Rescue Headquarters in Korea and suggested ergonomic design factors to improve their mobility and performance. Six types of PPE were employed, including three types for flame protective PPE (5 ~ 6 kg excluding the self-contained breathing apparatus), and three types for chemical and flame protective PPE (8 ~ 11 kg). These PPEs are used by the 119 Rescue firefighters. Three male firefighters (34.3 ± 1.2 y in age, 175 ± 8 cm in height, 81 ± 13 kg in body weight) participated in the mobility test and interview. A mobility test protocol consisting of 16 components (nine postures and seven motions including a dexterity test) along with a visibility test were developed based on pre-interviews and literature reviews. The findings indicated that the clothing microclimate humidity on the neck and chest exceeded 85%RH on average for all the six PPE conditions, with the chest area reaching as high as 98%RH. This high humidity caused fogging inside the visor and impaired visibility. The requirements for improving the PPE design in terms of mobility varied depending on whether it was the separated types or all-in-one types, particularly regarding the hood and gloves design. The findings of this study can be applied to improve the design of Level A_PPE for firefighters. The mobility test protocol and visibility test developed in this study can also be applied to other types of Level A impermeable PPE.