Thermal Manikin Measurements of Protective Clothing Assemblies

The thermal comfort of a foundry worker is very important and related to many factors, i.e., the structure of the protective clothing assembly, the number of layers and their thickness, as well as the distance between the body and appropriate underwear. The research undertaken aimed at checking thermal insulation for assemblies consisting of aluminized protective clothing and appropriate underwear in two sizes and without underwear. Measurements of the clothing thermal insulation were conducted using a thermal manikin dressed in two-layer protective clothing and three kinds of underwear products covering the upper and lower parts of the manikin. The first part of the paper presents a comparison of results of thermal insulation measurement of two kinds of protective clothing: a traditional one made of aluminised glass fabrics and a new one made of aluminised basalt fabrics. Each of the protective clothing was worn on three kinds of underwear products in m and s sizes. The influence of the underwear size was noted. In the second part of paper, measurements were made for two aluminized basalt clothing variants: commercial and a prototype with modifications in static and dynamic conditions. The results were discussed.

Aktualnie obserwuje się tendencje wzrostu znaczenia bezpieczeństwa i higieny pracy na stanowiskach, gdzie występuje wiele czynników zagrożenia zdrowia. Jednym z miejsc pracy, gdzie pojawiają się szkodliwe czynniki, tj. wysoka temperatura, zanieczyszczenie, hałas czy ostre krawędzie i przedmioty, jest stanowisko pracy hutnika. Liczne zagrożenia oraz szkodliwe czynniki panujące w hucie przyczyniają się do pogorszenia komfortu fizjologicznego i psychicznego pracowników odlewni. Dlatego też stosowana jest specjalistyczna odzież ochronna, w celu zapobiegania szkodliwemu działaniu wysokiej temperatury.