{"id":53201,"date":"2026-04-29T11:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tktk.ee\/uudised\/fit-is-a-safety-issue-new-research-exposes-gaps-in-firefighting-ppe-for-women\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:28:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T08:28:33","slug":"fit-is-a-safety-issue-new-research-exposes-gaps-in-firefighting-ppe-for-women","status":"publish","type":"uudised","link":"https:\/\/www.tktk.ee\/en\/news\/fit-is-a-safety-issue-new-research-exposes-gaps-in-firefighting-ppe-for-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Fit is a safety issue: new research exposes gaps in firefighting PPE for women"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>On 10 April 2026, ECPC 2027 hosted its second webinar, bringing together three researchers to present the latest evidence on why female firefighters are systematically underserved by current fire-protective clothing standards.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The webinar is part of a series leading up to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ecpc2027.ee\/\">European Conference of Protective Clothing (ECPC2027)<\/a>, which will take place at TTK University of Applied Sciences in May 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What does the statistics show?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>80% of female firefighters report ill-fitting gear<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4 times higher rate of fit issues vs male colleagues<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>33% greater injury risk for female firefighters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What did the research find?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jemma Forgie <\/strong>from <strong>University of Alberta<\/strong> presented survey and interview data from 379 female firefighters in Canada and the United States. Key findings were the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Only 23% rated their gear fit as &#8216;just right&#8217;; 78% described it as bulky and 57% found movement restricted.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>86% had no access to women-specific fire-protective clothing. Even those who did often found it still did not fit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gloves, helmet, pant hip\/crotch, and SCBA packs showed the lowest satisfaction \u2014 and the highest rate of improvised modification.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modifications ranged from adding foam to face masks to removing helmets entirely \u2014 workarounds that create new safety risks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josephine T. Bolaji <\/strong>and <strong>Ziwen (Jackoee) Qiu<\/strong>, <strong>postdoctoral researchers<\/strong> from the United States presented anthropometric data from 187 female firefighters compared with NFPA sizing standards and the general female population:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Current NFPA 1977 (wildland) sizing covers fewer than 45% of female firefighters for sleeve length and achieves 0% coverage for front-rise measurements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Female firefighters are on average 6 cm taller and have waist circumferences ~10 cm larger than the general female population \u2014 the equivalent of up to two pants sizes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sizing revisions in the 2022 NFPA edition improved coverage only marginally. The standards were changed without clear reference to actual anthropometric data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Women are not a smaller version of men \u2014 downscaling male patterns is not a solution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Poorly fitted PPE compromises thermal protection, restricts movement, and forces firefighters into unsafe workarounds. The research calls for sizing standards to be grounded in female-specific anthropometric data, and for manufacturers and fire departments to actively close the design gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A special issue on Inclusive PPE is currently in production at the Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics. Researchers are invited to contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The webinar is available to watch in full&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kXklesalAJ0&amp;feature=youtu.be\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next webinar in the series\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/c28d96b2-7e9f-49c0-baad-a132eb492e40@91aed963-f195-436e-a87d-24eee4b3d2d1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sustainability &amp; Protective Clothing<\/a>\u00a0will take place on May 26, 2026. Speaker is Dr Patricia Dolez, webinar is moderated by Professor Ada Traumann. Register for the webinar\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/c28d96b2-7e9f-49c0-baad-a132eb492e40@91aed963-f195-436e-a87d-24eee4b3d2d1\/registration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tktk.ee\/en\/news\/ttk-hosts-the-12th-european-conference-on-protective-clothing-in-2027\/\">ECPC2027 conference<\/a>&nbsp;and the webinar series:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ecpc2027.ee\/\">https:\/\/ecpc2027.ee<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/espc-european-society-of-protective-clothing\/\">ECPC LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n    <div class=\"nbl-contacts-container nbl-card-layout\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"nbl-contact-card\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"contact-visual contact-cards-upper-line \"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"main\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"contacts-name\">Paula Veske-Lepp<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"margin-bottom-after-occupation\">Visiting Professor<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"i-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Icon-ionic-md-mail-open.svg\" alt=\"Email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"mailto:paula.veske-lepp@tktk.ee\">paula.veske-lepp@tktk.ee<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"i-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Icon-material-room.svg\" alt=\"Location\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTLN-A414\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"i-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"width:15px;\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.etis.ee\/CV\/Paula_Veske\/est\/\">CV-ETIS<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":52788,"template":"","nd_news_cat":[1902,1906],"uudiste_rubriigid":[],"uudiste_sildid":[],"class_list":["post-53201","uudised","type-uudised","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","nd_news_cat-news","nd_news_cat-technology-and-circular-economy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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