Factors influencing the time required to don thermal protective immersion suits correctly

Abstract

The cold environment in polar regions introduces additional challenges when abandoning passenger vessels and offshore facilities. The International Maritime Organization Polar Code requires vessels operating in polar regions to be equipped with approved thermal protective immersion suits (TPIS) that can be donned unassisted within 120 s. As time is critical during an evacuation, quantifying the Net Donning Time (NDT) is important as this may need to be factored into passenger ship evacuation analysis. Furthermore, an incorrectly donned TPIS may be ineffective in providing the required thermal protection, so in addition to NDT, it is important to understand the factors that impact donning correctness. In this study, we present the results of a series of trials that quantified participants' performance while donning a TPIS with integrated buoyancy. Analysis of data from 108 participants revealed that NDT ranged from 65 to 341 s, with over 90 % requiring a total donning time of greater than 120 s. The mean NDT was dependent on a complex relationship between, age (increases by 6.6 % for each 10 years), gender (increases by 33 % if female), experience (decreases by 17 % with experience), method of instruction (increases by 21 % with video instruction) and failure to remove shoes (increases by 26 %). Furthermore, the method of instruction significantly impacted the number of donning errors, with instruction by video producing an average of 1.5 errors while written instruction producing 2.3. Finally, a donning time distribution is suggested for use in evacuation modelling analysis.