Assessment of the Risks of Heat Disorders Encountered during Work in Hot Conditions

Abstract

Eight laboratories participated in a concerted research project on the assessment of hot working conditions. The objectives were to:

Co-ordinate the work of the main European research teams in the field of thermal factors

Improve the methods available to assess the risks of heat disorders at the workplace, and in particular the ISO standard 7933.

Better define the criteria for the maximum exposure duration, considering interindividual differences in sweating rate, water loss and core temperature increase.

Design and validate an assessment strategy for practitioners to determine maximum exposure durations and optimise the working environment.

The revised model, called “Predicted Heat Strain” proved to predict much better than the previous Required Sweat Rate model the maximum allowable exposure duration to avoid dehydration and/or core temperature increase.

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