Female firefighters’ body weight and stature: a comparison between two Portuguese fire brigades

Abstract

Anthropometric data are essential for applying ergonomic principles to the design of a wide range of products and are paramount when developing personal protective equipment. In the case of occupations that deal with extreme circumstances, as is the case of firefighting, a proper fit and sizing of personal protective equipment is related not only with work performance and comfort but also with protection level. The increase in the number of female firefighters have raised the discussion about the barriers and challenges faced by women in firefighting. Issues with the fit of personal protective equipment commonly appear among physical and psychological stressors encountered by female firefighters. The need to provide gender-specific protective equipment forsuch professionals is highlighted by many studies. Furthermore, significant anthropometric differences among specialized occupational groups have also been found. However, anthropometric databases on firefighters are still very limited. Aiming to fulfill this shortcoming as well as to understand if Portuguese firefighters’ protective equipment is adjusted to their anthropometrics, a study designated as Size FF Portugal – Anthropometric Study of Portuguese Firefighters is currently underway. This paper presents a preliminary comparison of anthropometric data of female firefighters from two different fire brigades located in the North of Portugal. Stature and body weight measurements of 30 participants were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that there were not statistically significant differences on the average stature nor on the average body weight of female firefighters from both brigades. Moreover, significant differences were not found when comparing their types of commitment for both considered measurements. However, the comparison of stature data of female firefighters with two available anthropometric databases of the Portuguese population presented statistically significant differences. These results corroborate similar research and highlight the relevance of the on-going study. A discussion regarding the results is presented, taking into consideration the current stage of the study and its limitations.