Performance study of protective clothing against hot water splashes: from bench scale test to instrumented manikin test.

Hot liquid hazards existing in work environments are shown to be a considerable risk for industrial workers. In this study, the predicted protection from fabric was assessed by a modified hot liquid splash tester. In these tests, conditions with and without an air spacer were applied. The protective performance of a garment exposed to hot water spray was investigated by a spray manikin evaluation system. Three-dimensional body scanning technique was used to characterize the air gap size between the protective clothing and the manikin skin. The relationship between bench scale test and manikin test was discussed and the regression model was established to predict the overall percentage of skin burn while wearing protective clothing. The results demonstrated strong correlations between bench scale test and manikin test. Based on these studies, the overall performance of protective clothing against hot water spray can be estimated on the basis of the results of the bench scale hot water splashes test and the information of air gap size entrapped in clothing. The findings provide effective guides for the design and material selection while developing high performance protective clothing. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society 2014.