Effect of noise,heat stress and exposure duration on operators in a die casting operation

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of noise and heat stress on operators of various age groups performing die casting operation at varying exposure durations. The independent variables selected were age of operator (20–25, 25–30 and 30–35 years), equivalent levels of noise (90, 95 and 100 dB(A)), heat stress (35, 40 and 45°C wet bulb globe temperature) and exposure duration (5, 10 and 15 minutes) while the dependent variable was heart rate measured with the help of pulse-oximeter. The results of the study showed that the main effects of heat stress, equivalent noise level, age group and the interaction between levels of equivalent noise and exposure duration were all had a statistically significant effect on operators performing the task. The three way interaction of age group, subject and equivalent noise level was also observed to be statistically significant.