Hazmat Suits - Useless?

[zender42]

Is it just me, or do hazmat suits do literally nothing?

I've just started, and I've played through the training, and the first level (Statue of Liberty). I was twice given a hazmat immediately before a hazard (toxic water, and arcing electricity). In neither case did it seem to reduce the amount of damage that I took from said hazard. I must have repeated each a dozen times trying to verify, but I don't see any real difference.

I'm equipping the suit, and then clicking - I see it activated in the top right, with the bar counting down. It just doesn't seem to help. Am I doing something wrong, or are these just effectively useless? I searched for anyone else having this issue, and I didn't really find anything.

[BadMojo]

It's skill based, the more you level up the environment skill the better it works