A methodology for collecting donning times of thermal protective immersion suits intended to be worn by passengers on vessels operating in cold environments

Abstract

Adequate thermal protection for passengers travelling on-board vessels in cold climate regions, such as that provided by thermal protective immersion suits (TPIS), enhances passenger survivability in emergency situations, in particular those requiring the abandonment of the vessel. As emergency abandonment is a time critical process, it is essential to consider the time required to correctly don the TPIS. Testing standards, such as the International Maritime Organization guidelines, require that TPIS must be able to be donned within 2 minutes. Unfortunately, current practices quantifying donning times are questionable and so there is a limited evidence base that reliably quantifies donning times required by typical passengers. This paper presents a test procedure designed to reliably quantify the time required by test subjects to don the TPIS. Furthermore, the procedure assesses the donning correctness – a TPIS that is incorrectly donned is unlikely to offer appropriate thermal protection. The paper will also discuss the deficiencies in current practices to assess required donning time.