AIHA Student Outreach Idea: “Tyvek Man”

From the members of the Student and Early Career Professionals Committee

Title/Purpose/Synopsis of Idea – Mannequin to attract attention to booth and use as tool to show PPE use, personal monitoring, etc.

Intended Audience (elem/middle/high/college) – possibly all

Intended Venue (career fair table, classroom presentation) - all

Materials Required

Tyvek or other protective suit, newspaper for fill, other available PPE (hard hat, respirator, gloves, boots), Monitoring equipment (passive badge, pump with cassette, etc.

How to Stuff suit with balled up newspaper.  Dowels or cardboard sleeves may help him stand up.  Put other available PPE on him with any available monitoring equipment. Some venues may allow you to suspend him from the drop ceiling to draw additional attention, he can sit in a chair, or be propped next to the table.  Kids will love to see what the suit feels like, touch the respirator, etc. 

You can explain why he is wearing the PPE (chemical hazard, physical hazard). Explain what the monitoring equipment does, briefly explain how it may work and how the IH uses it/interprets results to protect him. You can get creative on scenarios – hazmat clean-up, emergency response, etc.
Other topics that student will relate to is the heat stress hazard created by wearing a suit – if you have a few on hand, let a student wear one for a bit and see how warm he/she gets.

Submitted by Carter Ficklen III c.b.ficklen@larc.nasa.gov