Ergonomic evaluation of protective clothing for earthquake disaster search and rescue team members

Purpose - The ergonomic performance of protective clothing for earthquake disaster search and rescue team members is significant for its protective performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - By experimental simulations of the rescue tasks, an evaluation system for the protective clothing in both static and dynamic conditions was designed and established in this study. In static evaluation, motion capture system was used to measure the ranges of motions. The mobility was analyzed by the comprehensive evaluation method. In dynamic experiments, three types of rescue tasks were simulated for ergonomic evaluation. The results were analyzed based on the multi-levels joint evaluation method. Findings - It was shown that the established evaluation system could meet well with the requirements of the ergonomic evaluation. Originality/value - Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is an effective tool in ergonomic evaluation of clothing. The newly designed coverall and suit are of better ergonomic performance compared with the in-service clothing.