Development of scenario-based methods for testing the quality of chemical protective gloves regarding ergonomic requirements

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to fill the lack of a roadmap for examination of ergonomic quality of chemical protective gloves in standards and research by defining a new set of customer requirements and product specifications. In addition, the authors aim to develop scenario-based test methods that can be used to evaluate these specifications.

Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is conducted to identify a response scenario for a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incident that emergency services should undertake. Based on this scenario and its related activities, the deployment of protective clothes could be represented as a process, which contributes to the definition of ergonomic customer requirements through a survey with experts from the fire department. For each requirement, an empirical, comparable test procedure is developed, which considers the practical application in emergency missions and is directly related to the tasks listed in the identified scenario.

Findings – This research presents new product specifications in different areas of ergonomics, which can be evaluated by the developed scenario-based test methods.

Research limitations – The number of fire departments surveyed may be expanded, leading to the identification of additional requirements.

Practical implications- The results in this research are a unique study that can be used to evaluate the ergonomic quality of chemical protective gloves by manufacturers to improve customer satisfaction by reducing the physical burdens of the gloves.

Originality/value – The research contributes to more attention to the ergonomic specifications of protective gloves, which otherwise tend to take a back seat.

Paper type: Research paper

Chemical protective gloves, Ergonomics, Quality, Customer requirements