Brünig, Ria, Galea, Edwin R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0001-6665, Erland, Sveinung, Batalden, Bjørn-Morten, Deere, Steven ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5171-2014 and Oltedal, Helle (2025) Passenger donning time and donning correctness for a non-insulated immersion suit: an experimental study. Fire Technology. ISSN 0015-2684 (Print), 1572-8099 (Online) (doi:10.1007/s10694-025-01790-2)

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Abstract

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulates the provision of thermal protection, including Thermal Protective Immersion Suits (TPIS), for passenger vessels operating in Polar regions. These TPIS must be donned within 120 s. While IMO also requires evacuation modelling analysis to demonstrate timely abandonment of passenger vessels, the two regulatory requirements currently remain independent. TPIS usage is excluded from evacuation analysis partly due to insufficient data. This study's uniqueness and importance lies in its provision of a reliable and robust evidence base, quantifying donning times and correctness for a regulatory compliant, non-insulated TPIS, designed for use onboard passenger vessels. Donning time is defined as the duration taken to put on the TPIS, while donning correctness refers to the proper, watertight, and immersion-ready application of the TPIS. Experimental trials with 96 volunteers (67 males, 29 females) aged 18 to 72 revealed donning times from 55 to 186 s, with 39% donning correctly. Age affected donning performance (increase in time and errors with age), while gender and experience did not significantly impact it, which was inconsistent with prior donning studies of different types of TPIS. Surprisingly, watching a donning video did not significantly reduce time compared to written instructions, but it did significantly improve correctness. Clearly, donning times for this regulatory compliant TPIS exceeding 120 s question the appropriateness of suit testing protocols. Finally, donning time distributions for use in agent-based ship evacuation analysis is proposed and TPIS design improvements suggested.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	"This paper represents a collaboration between three universities, two in Norway and the UoG. It is likely to have high impact in maritime safety." (Author) *** Open access funding provided by Western Norway University Of Applied Sciences - MP
Uncontrolled Keywords:	immersion suit, thermal protection, donning time, passenger ship, evacuation, polar region
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology > T Technology (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS)
Last Modified:	07 Aug 2025 09:13
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50905

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