The Development and Evaluation of Protective Clothing for Rose Farmers

Introduction
There are many occasions when rose farmers pricks their hand, arm, shoulder and chest on a rose during working. This study was undertaken to develop protective clothing for farmers who work on thorny plants such as roses. 

Methods
Based on the result of a field survey and demand research from 35 rose farmers, this study extracted design factors and offered prototype designs of protective apron and gloves. These experimental protective clothing were tested about thermal comfort, protect function, mobility, ease of donning and doffing, total outfit from 10 subjects.

Results
According to the questionnaire, the injured part was hands (87.5%), arms (71.9%), followed by chest (21.9%). Gloves (90.0%) and apron (53.3%) were the preferred types of protecting items. According to compared evaluation of experimental clothing and the existing working clothes, skin temperature and heart rate didn't show any significant differences, but the temperature and humidity inside clothes in back showed significant differences. Also, there were significant differences in terms of subjective sensation, that is, thermal sensation, humidity sensation and thermal comfort. In addition, the experimental clothing showed more satisfying protecting from being pricked on every body part including shoulder, chest, arms, and hands than the existing working clothes. Mobility of experimental clothing was judged to be pretty satisfied. Total outfit, donning and doffing were evaluated to be ordinary.

Discussion
It was concluded that experimental protective clothing are more useful for working than the existing working clothes. 
These results imply features of protective clothing as more functional fabric and ergonomic design should be applied to effective work.