Chapter 6. Conclusions & Recommendations
6.2 Recommendations
The following areas have been identified for future work:
An Australian Standard for firefighting Station Wear, or an equivalent-usage work wear Standard is required to clearly define the thermal, mechanical, and comfort performance requirements of secondary protective fabrics, for both career and volunteer firefighters. Adaptations of the Standard could apply to work wear for professionals who may be under threat from fire, including petroleum works, oil-well workers, foresters, foundry workers etc.
To avoid increasing physiological stress and the total weight of a firefighter's protective ensemble, in the interim, sub-sections of current AS/NZS firefighting PPC Standards are necessary to outline the different fabric performance requirements of Station Wear materials compared with the primary protection required for outer-shell (Turnout) materials/garments alone.
A defined Station Wear uniform replacement rate should be considered in order to limit the effects of degradation on protective fabric properties, due to UV exposure, daily wear and laundering conditions. The risk is that firefighters not being protected outweighs the associated costs of such as scheme.
The identified reduction in strength and fire performance of Station Wear fabrics degraded by UV exposure, implied that Turnout Gear will be similarly affected.
146
Therefore, Turnout Gear should be similarly assessed for strength and flame- resistance after UV exposure.
To gain statistical significance, testing Station Wear fabrics of different fibres and blends, in larger sample sizes would create a greater understanding of the implications involved in exposing protective fabrics to UV light. In addition, it may assist Fire & Rescue Services in estimating a more realistic retirement age for firefighting protective clothing.
Repeating the irradiated flame-resistance testing with adequate sets of warp and weft replicates would be worthwhile, to further validate degradative results and the effects of UV exposure on aramid-blend protective fabrics.
Further investigations would be worthwhile to assess the Convective Heat Resistance, and liquid moisture management properties of irradiated Station Wear fabrics, to evaluate if degradation of the fabric's performance would also occur with these parameters.
By evaluating three-dimensional heat flow through a firefighter's protective ensemble, the thermal and evaporative resistances of Experimental fabrics can be incorporated in Station Wear garments, and tested in conjunction with base-layer (undergarments) and outer-shell (Turnout) materials using a thermal manikin.
Since dyes can be effective in increasing the sun-blocking properties of fabrics, dyed Station Wear fabrics containing UV absorbers may help to reduce the initiation of degradation in aramid fibres when exposed to natural, and artificial light sources, in addition to protecting a firefighter's skin from harmful UV rays.
Since Nomex® polymers are susceptible to sunlight transmitted through window glass, UV light-resistant windows should be installed in Fire Stations to reduce further exposure and degradation of firefighting PPC.
147
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