In selecting flame resistant garments for workers, thermal comfort has been receiving an increasingly large amount of scrutiny. This is due both to a heightened awareness of the dangers of heat-related stress, and the probable reality that workers are more likely to comply with PPE requirements if the garments are comfortable.
Wear trials are a great tool to gauge the comfort of garments in specific work environments, but using wear trials alone can be become extremely time-consuming and expensive, particularly if multiple fabric choices are under evaluation. In order to gather accurate information during a wear trial, the trial needs to be of adequate duration and size, and span the range of environmental conditions and activity loads that are expected for each job.