Effects of Ventilated Safety Helmets in a Hot Environment

Details

• Personal Author:
  Davis GA ; Edmisten ED ; Pascoe DD ; Rummer RB ; Thomas RE
• Description:
  Forest workers are likely to remove head protection in hot and humid conditions because of thermal discomfort. However, a recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation revision requires all workers in logging operations to wear safety helmets, thus creating a compliance problem. To determine which factors contribute to forest workers' thermal discomfort, this study evaluated subjects' physiological and psychophysical responses during tasks approximating the workload of forest workers in a high-temperature environment similar to that found in the southeastern United States during the summer. Environmental conditions in the helmet dome space were also evaluated. Three helmets were used in this study: a standard helmet, a passively ventilated helmet, and an actively ventilated helmet. It was found that none of the tested helmets burdened the body significantly for the physiological variables that were examined. Evaluation of the dome space environmental conditions showed that both the dry-bulb temperature (DBT) and wet-bulb temperature (WBT) varied significantly among the helmets tested. Psychophysical results showed that ventilation contributes to greater helmet comfort, and that weight and fit are important factors in helmet design. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Forestry Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Head Protection Equipment Design Forestry Workers Head Protective Equipment Heat Exposure Heat Stress Hot Environments Logging Safety Logging Workers Personal Protective Equipment Protective Headwear Safety Helmet

  More +
• ISSN:
  0169-8141
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  321-329
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057648
• Citation:
  Int J Ind Ergon 2001 May; 27(5):321-329
• Contact Point Address:
  G.A. Davis, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
• Email:
  davisga@mail.auburn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Performing Organization:
  Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19980701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee60d6af707c1c0344d316b2b0f87b8a23dde2ec3e3f34c77d3aaa02fbfd043fcbc31ca7afc558099cbf5a8b926cab44f2a15adfcf6089829472f70f1aca70a0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214920/cdc_214920_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 142.03 KB ]