Abstract

Purpose. Determination of the anthropometric distribution of the average Ukrainian worker to increase the reliability of the calculation of the protection factor of respirators due to the improvement of the procedure for laboratory assessment of the penetration factor. Methods. A comparison has been made of the method of selecting respirators based on the methods of mathematical statistics and statistical analysis to establish relationship between the anthropometric dimensions of the users' faces and the Sheffield mannequin of the head, in accordance with the ISO 16900-1:2020 standard "Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test and test equipment - Part 1: Determination of inward leakage" and the Technical Regulations. Results. The procedure for determining the penetration factor of respirators from the selection of the appropriate type of the Sheffield mannequin and the evaluation of the suction coefficient has been improved with regard to the selection of the number of testers who would ensure the compliance of the design parameters of the respirators with the anthropometric parameters of the face of possible users. The determined anthropometric distribution of the average Ukrainian worker for adjusting the parameters (cell size and number of testers in the cells) of the known parametric table for the selection of testers, in relation to conducting a laboratory study to determine the suction coefficient of half-mask respirators by the obturation band or valve system (if available). Scientific novelty. Improving the reliability of studies on the determination of the protection factor of personal respiratory protective devices (RPD) (filtering respirators) is an urgent task. However, in the domestic standards for determining the quality of RPD, there are no data on the anthropometric dimensions of the faces of Ukrainian workers, the Sheffield mannequin of the head, and the requirements for the faces of volunteer testers. The consequence of this is the discrepancy between the technical characteristics of the respirators declared by the developer and the actual ones obtained during their operation in production conditions. Practical significance. On the basis of the obtained data regarding 400 typical users of RPD, workers of Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant (ACCP) aged 20 to 55 years, their distribution by length and width of faces has been revealed. According to the results of the research, in which twenty-five volunteers, selected according to ten parameters, took part, the anthropometric dimensions of the face of the average worker of the ACCP and the corresponding Sheffield mannequin of the head have been determined.

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