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This study aims to integrate fall-protection function into the elderly clothing to meet both the daily life and fall-protection needs of the elderly people, thereby upgrading the performance of elderly clothing.

This study identified the design strategies of elderly clothing using an Extended Kansei Engineering methodology. Extended Kansei Engineering methodology is a new design framework developed from the traditional Kansei Engineering methodology to meet the design requirements of the product-service system. This study focuses on the product section of product-service system design. According to the product design process of the Extended Kansei Engineering methodology, this study first collected and organized the design elements and Kansei words of elderly clothing. Then a questionnaire was designed using Semantic Differential Scale. Finally, the questionnaire survey was conducted and the collected data was analysed to understand the consumption preferences of elderly people. A total of 399 elderly people aged 65 and older provided valuable design insights for this survey.

The research findings include the product design strategies for the development of elderly clothing, as well as a product prototype canvas and a product prototype elderly clothing developed based on the design strategies.

The research findings can provide competitive design strategies for the development of elderly clothing, thereby upgrading the performance of elderly clothing.

This elderly clothing integrates fall-protection function to reduce the risk of injury for elderly people due to falls, thereby helping society alleviate the medical and healthcare pressure caused by falls for elderly people.

The research findings can provide competitive design strategies for the development of elderly clothing. Furthermore, the Extended Kansei Engineering methodology introduced in this study can provide product and service designers with design methods that are more in line with the development trend of modern product-service system business models.

The purpose of this paper is to identify safety hazards likely to be encountered during post‐disaster recovery and reconstruction, identify barriers to effective safety training and hazard mitigation, and provide actionable guidance on methods to safely avoid and abate such hazards.

Surveys were administered to 400 participants at 13 training sites to evaluate safety practices among reconstruction contractors and workers.

A comparison of survey results to hazards likely to cause injuries and fatalities during post‐disaster reconstruction indicates that little effort is made to assess workers' physical condition or immunization records prior to deployment. Furthermore, data suggest that workers lack safety training in reconstruction‐specific hazards such as electrocution, falls, chemical and biological hazards (e.g. contaminated flood water), and equipment hazards (aerial lifts, ladders, electric equipment, generators, etc.). Findings also indicate that training effectiveness is further compromised by limited language and literacy skills of workers, high turnover of workers, and insufficient resources for adequate safety training frequency and duration, especially among smaller contractors (<100 workers).

The paper is based on original research funded by the US Government following Hurricane Katrina and is intended to aid in the development of targeted training to reduce worker injuries and fatalities during post‐disaster reconstruction.

The use of shoulder protectors is strongly recommended when carrying objects on the shoulder to ensure the health and safety of workers. Thus, this study aimed to develop and verify an ergonomic shoulder protector that considers human body shape and carrying posture from an ergonomic perspective. Ultimately, this study will present a shoulder protector with enhanced fit and safety for carrying workers at construction sites.

The shoulder protector was designed and printed using three-dimensional printing technology with variable side neck points and shoulder point heights to reflect the human body's shoulder line shape and to position the carried object stably on the shoulder. The developed shoulder protectors were evaluated in terms of their fit according to the work posture of the carrier, adherence upon motion and durability through structural analysis.

The design of the shoulder protector for carrying workers followed the shoulder line. It is best placed above the side neck point by 1.0 cm and above the shoulder point by 2.0 cm. Its length is slightly shorter than the human shoulder for superior fit and safety.

The final shoulder protector (FSP) for carrying workers reflects the body curvature while enhancing fit and safety by considering activity and protective factors. As functional studies and evaluations on the need for protectors are scarce, this study provides fundamental data in the evaluation of protective gears.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the personal protective equipment (PPE) industry managed supply chain and business relationships disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the adoption of digital and social media during the period of crisis management.

The methodology used is qualitative based on 14 interviews with 11 PPE firms operating in Italy, the first Western country that implemented a national lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

Findings suggest that although most PPE companies in Italy have been slow in implementing digital transformation, digital technologies and communication enhanced existing assets and capabilities creating new customer value during the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic has increased the relevance of social media as an effective tool in the business-to-business (B2B) context to provide updated information and training, as well as to reinforce and personalize business relationships, weakened by the lack of physical contacts during the lockdown. Moreover, highly interdependent buyer–supplier relations can increase supply chain resilience to disruptions in mutually dependent relationships/partnerships.

By analyzing the main issues encountered during the pandemic and the digital strategies adopted by PPE companies, this study seeks to extend B2B literature on supply chain disruption management and digitalization. The limitations refer to the study’s generalizability as a limited number of firms are analyzed.

Implications for B2B companies and policymakers are provided with the extent of managing supply chain disruptions during emergency situations such as COVID-19 pandemic, when collaboration between different actors involved become essential.

No previous studies have analyzed how PPE firms used digital and social media in managing disruption in supply chain and business relationships. Therefore, the present study contributes to extend the B2B literature by analyzing the related effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.