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Heat stress in many industrial workplaces imposes significant risk of injury to individuals. As a means of quantifying these risks, a comparison of four rationally developed thermoregulatory models was conducted. The health-risk prediction (HRP) model, the human thermal regulation model (HuTheReg), the SCENARIO model, and the six-cylinder thermoregulatory model (SCTM) each used the same inputs for an individual, clothing, activity rates, and environment based on previously observed conditions within the Portuguese glass industry. An analysis of model correlations was conducted for predicted temperatures (°C) of brain (TBrain), skin (TSkin), core body (TCore), as well as sweat evaporation rate (ER; Watts). Close agreement was observed between each model (0.81–0.98). Predicted mean ± SD of active phases of exposure for both moderate (TBrain 37.8 ± 0.25, TSkin 36.7 ± 0.49, TCore 37.8 ± 0.45 °C, and ER 207.7 ± 60.4 W) and extreme heat (TBrain 39.1 ± 0.58, TSkin, 38.6 ± 0.71, TCore 38.7 ± 0.65 °C, and ER 468.2 ± 80.2 W) were assessed. This analysis quantifies these heat-risk conditions and provides a platform for comparison of methods to more fully predict heat stress during exposures to hot environments.

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The level of protective material performance attributes are well defined and highly regulated, however the attributes related to the thermo physiological comfort of materials are not. In this chapter, the application of new materials to firefighting protective clothing systems used in extreme heat is addressed, with a focus on thermo physiological comfort. The new generation of protective textile materials and their structures are evaluated through use of both objective laboratory testing and mathematical modeling methods. In addition, 3D body imaging technology is utilized to demonstrate a method of assessing the fit of protective garments and its potential impact on the thermal status of the wearer. The proposed engineering approach could be used in other areas where the balance between clothing performance and wear comfort is critical, e.g. sport, work wear etc.

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