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Footwear for cold work: a field study at a harbour

Kuklane, Kalev LU ; Gavhed, Désirée ; Karlsson, Eva and Holmér, Ingvar LU (2000) Ergonomics of Protective Clothing: NOKOBETEF 6 and 1st European Conference on Protective Clothing p.71-74
Abstract
A series of field studies at cold workplaces were initiated. This paper deals with a study at a harbour and the main attention is paid to the thermal responses of the feet and footwear performance. The study was carried out in February. Eight male workers were the subjects. They were selected among volunteers who carried out four different jobs in pairs. The warm winter boots were provided by the experimenters. The insulation of a boot (size 41) was measured on a thermal foot model and was 0.34 m2°C/W. One subject used his own shoes with an estimated insulation of about 0.23 m2°C/W. The subjects used one pair of thin socks (about 75 g/pair). Temperature sensors were taped to the second toe and dorsal foot. The workers were observed during... (More)
A series of field studies at cold workplaces were initiated. This paper deals with a study at a harbour and the main attention is paid to the thermal responses of the feet and footwear performance. The study was carried out in February. Eight male workers were the subjects. They were selected among volunteers who carried out four different jobs in pairs. The warm winter boots were provided by the experimenters. The insulation of a boot (size 41) was measured on a thermal foot model and was 0.34 m2°C/W. One subject used his own shoes with an estimated insulation of about 0.23 m2°C/W. The subjects used one pair of thin socks (about 75 g/pair). Temperature sensors were taped to the second toe and dorsal foot. The workers were observed during the whole workday. The foot skin temperatures stayed relatively high, usually over 30 °C, except in the subject with shoes whose foot skin temperature was mostly below 30 °C. The lowest toe temperatures were occasionally around 17-18 °C, but commonly they were higher than 25 °C. The sweat accumulation in the footwear was at average 20 g per day and foot (1.3-3.8 g/h). Around 2 g of that stayed in the socks at the end of the day. The footwear was generally considered comfortable. Still, problems with the footwear were: difficulty to walk, limited mobility and poor fit, limiting effect on work ability, cold feet (the subject with shoes) and sweaty feet. The provided boots had too high insulation for the particular weather conditions (4 to 8 °C). The shoe insulation seemed not to be enough (one subject). Under the studied climatic and work conditions the recommended insulation would be between 0.25 and 0.30 m2°C/W. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Arbete och hälsa
editor
Kuklane, Kalev and Holmér, Ingvar
issue
2000:8
pages
4 pages
publisher
National Institute for Working Life
conference name
Ergonomics of Protective Clothing: NOKOBETEF 6 and 1st European Conference on Protective Clothing
conference location
Norra Latin, Stockholm, Sweden
conference dates
2000-05-07 - 2000-05-10
ISSN
0346-7821
ISBN
91-7045-559-7
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
653f6a6c-4467-4cce-a3ee-c05f72098af2 (old id 634780)
alternative location
http://hdl.handle.net/2077/4246
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 17:05:25
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:46:33
@inproceedings{653f6a6c-4467-4cce-a3ee-c05f72098af2,
  abstract     = {{A series of field studies at cold workplaces were initiated. This paper deals with a study at a harbour and the main attention is paid to the thermal responses of the feet and footwear performance. The study was carried out in February. Eight male workers were the subjects. They were selected among volunteers who carried out four different jobs in pairs. The warm winter boots were provided by the experimenters. The insulation of a boot (size 41) was measured on a thermal foot model and was 0.34 m2°C/W. One subject used his own shoes with an estimated insulation of about 0.23 m2°C/W. The subjects used one pair of thin socks (about 75 g/pair). Temperature sensors were taped to the second toe and dorsal foot. The workers were observed during the whole workday. The foot skin temperatures stayed relatively high, usually over 30 °C, except in the subject with shoes whose foot skin temperature was mostly below 30 °C. The lowest toe temperatures were occasionally around 17-18 °C, but commonly they were higher than 25 °C. The sweat accumulation in the footwear was at average 20 g per day and foot (1.3-3.8 g/h). Around 2 g of that stayed in the socks at the end of the day. The footwear was generally considered comfortable. Still, problems with the footwear were: difficulty to walk, limited mobility and poor fit, limiting effect on work ability, cold feet (the subject with shoes) and sweaty feet. The provided boots had too high insulation for the particular weather conditions (4 to 8 °C). The shoe insulation seemed not to be enough (one subject). Under the studied climatic and work conditions the recommended insulation would be between 0.25 and 0.30 m2°C/W.}},
  author       = {{Kuklane, Kalev and Gavhed, Désirée and Karlsson, Eva and Holmér, Ingvar}},
  booktitle    = {{Arbete och hälsa}},
  editor       = {{Kuklane, Kalev and Holmér, Ingvar}},
  isbn         = {{91-7045-559-7}},
  issn         = {{0346-7821}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2000:8}},
  pages        = {{71--74}},
  publisher    = {{National Institute for Working Life}},
  title        = {{Footwear for cold work: a field study at a harbour}},
  url          = {{http://hdl.handle.net/2077/4246}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}