Table 2.

Use of protective clothing and equipment by chimney sweeps for different work tasks 1975–2010 (mean percentage)

	N	BSa homes	N	BSb industry	N	Fire-safetyc	N	Ventilationd	N	Exhaust ductse
Gloves
1975–1999	325	80.6	324	85.5	184	40.2	290	43.1	293	40.2
2000–2009	426	84.5	413	88.2	301	50.1	411	51.3	411	52.8
Past 12 months	418	84.1	404	86.9	318	53.1	394	51.7	405	54.4
P valuef		<0.001		0.023		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001
Masks
1975–1999	379	14.9	329	48.6	80	5.1	197	20.3	109	4.6
2000–2009	435	19.9	418	57.5	141	11.7	269	25.8	165	9.3
Past 12 months	431	20.2	392	57.7	143	14.5	261	24.7	171	11.5
P value		<0.001		<0.001		0.001		<0.001		<0.001
Long sleeves
1975–1999	317	87.5	310	93.4	194	76.9	295	77.9	307	78.2
2000–2009	420	83.2	407	90.5	294	72.5	404	74.6	411	75.3
Past 12 months	401	82.9	388	89.6	301	71.6	383	73.4	402	75.7
P value		0.068		0.778		0.593		0.132		0.281
Long pants
1975–1999	316	98.1	311	98.0	202	89.5	299	96.6	306	97.7
2000–2009	418	96.7	407	96.4	294	86.9	407	96.2	409	96.8
Past 12 months	401	96.3	390	95.1	301	86.6	386	95.0	403	96.1
P value		0.010		0.148		0.710		0.650		0.620
Overall
1975–1999	284	2.1	294	20.8	213	0.7	276	4.7	275	4.4
2000–2009	380	1.1	384	20.8	288	0.7	378	4.6	373	4.4
Past 12 months	381	1.3	380	19.2	295	0.8	374	3.9	379	3.9
P value		0.001		0.002		0.929		0.722		0.649
Vacuum machine
1975–1999	317	55.4	308	51.7		–		–		–
2000–2009	419	68.4	403	60.8		–		–		–
Past 12 months	400	71.7	384	65.9		–		–		–
P value		<0.001		<0.001		–		–		–

^aBlack-soot-sweeping in private homes

^bBlack-soot-sweeping in industry

^cInspection of fire-safety systems, boilers, and furnace

^dCleaning ventilation channels in houses, buildings, and industry

^eCleaning exhaust ducts in restaurants

^f P value of Wilcoxon signed-rank test before/after the year of 2000