Heat stress and occupational health and safety – spatial and temporal differentiation

Abstract

Evidence of climatic health hazards on the general population has been discussed in many studies but limited focus is placed on developing a relationship between climate and its effects on occupational health. Long working hours with high physical activity can cause health problems for workers ranging from mild heat cramps to severe heat stroke leading to death. The paper presents the possible risk of heat hazard to outdoor workers, using the example of Warsaw. The heat stress hazard, defined by WBGT values above 26 and 28ºC and UTCI above 32 and 38ºC, is assessed from two perspectives: its spatial distribution on a local scale and its temporal changes during the 21 st century due to climate change. City centre and industrial districts were identified as the places with the greatest heat stress hazard. The number of heat stress days in a year (as predicted for the 21 st century) is increasing, meaning that heat-related illnesses are more likely to have a direct impact on workers' health.

Assessment of occupational heat stress risk among agriculture workers in Poland and Bulgaria

“…In the present study, the T nw and T globe components were assessed using an approach proposed by Błażejczyk et al (2014). In line with recommendations of the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), a WBGT value of 28°C was applied as the "permissible heat exposure threshold limit".…”

“…The index is a measure of the heat stress caused by ambient conditions that a person experiences. The UTCI derives from Fiala's multi-node model of human heat transfer and temperature regulation , and has found repeated application in occupational health research , Bröde et al 2013, Błażejczyk et al 2014). In the research described here, the UTCI was calculated using a regression model .…”

“…Several indicators of occupational heat exposure incorporating physical properties of the ambient environment have been developed. The indices used most frequently are WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature), ET (Effective Temperature), CET (Corrected Effective Temperature) and Humidex (Epstein & Moran 2006), as well as the recently-developed UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) , 2014. Table 1.…”

Estimated work ability in warm outdoor environments depends on the chosen heat stress assessment metric

“…One approach to quantify the effect of heat stress on workability is to consider a working environment as workable as long as limiting criteria from ergonomics standards are not exceeded (Kjellstrom and Crowe 2011;Kjellstrom et al 2013;Lundgren et al 2014;Blazejczyk et al 2014). Popular metrics applied in this area have recently been reviewed Gao et al this special issue) and are used to produce corresponding global and local heat maps (Kjellstrom et al this special issue).…”

“…The ongoing and future climate change makes the heat situation worse for many working people (Hanna et al 2011;Kjellstrom et al 2016;Kjellstrom and Crowe 2011;Kjellstrom et al 2009a;Kjellstrom et al 2009b;Kjellstrom et al 2013), and cooling systems (Gao et al 2011;Barwood et al 2009;Chinevere et al 2008) are often not available or are difficult to provide. As heat stress can also be associated with impaired muscular performance or decreased work capacity (Hettinga et al 2007;Cheuvront et al 2010), there is a growing interest to assess the potential effects of climate change in terms of work efficiency or productivity (Dunne et al 2013;Blazejczyk et al 2014;Kjellstrom et al 2016;Kjellstrom et al 2009c).…”