Maria,

I have a contact who is an expert in thermal stress in the underground mining environments. If you want I can give you his contact info. Let me know

Dear Maria, I will send this paper, very useful for cold stress.

Concerning heat stress you can use for a screening assessment WBGT index, otherwise, PHS model.

Do not hesitate for other questions.

Best regards

Thank you both, very much for your prompt and useful answers. 

I am very thankful. Maybe I'll be able to post here, some of the advances I slowly make in my research.

Kind regards!

Maria

See you here ASAP.

During the health surveillance in a ice cream factory I  use the HEALTH-CHECK QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SUBJECTS EXPOSED TO COLD from JuhaniHassi, Veli-PekkaRaatikka, MaireHuurre in International Journal of Circumpolar Health 62:4 2003.

greatings

Manfredi

thank, you, Manfredi Montalti! That may prove helpful.

I have checked on  that!

It is in fact a very useful and well built questionnaire. 

I'll have to adapt, though, because my workers are indeed exposed to both cold and heated invironments, and the main problem they have to cope and endhure is the alternate quick changes of thermal and humidity exposure, during their daily working hours.

I'll have to adapt the questionnaire, which is quite simple and adaptable to the issues I have to work with.

Thanks a lot! 

Kind regards from Portugal!

Dear Maria Bettencourt Pires, You will find lot of literature on thermal stress. I will suggest you to contact

a) Prof. G. Brager, Centre for Built Environment, University of California, Berkeley.

b) Prof Michael A Humphreys, Oxford Brooks University. U.K.

c) Professor Richard de Dear - The University of Sydney

d) Prof F Nicol. Oxford Brooks University, U.K.

Above people are expert and vast experience in the area of thermal comfort. Hope above information will be of some help to you. 

Thank, you, Manoj Kumar Singh !

You used the right term: thermal comfort, that defines, what I was looking for. You were helpful! 

(I certainly was in need for the contribute of a bioclimatic building specialist.)

Kind regards!

if you need expertise person no how to measure WBGT ask and contact me

Thank you, dear Alshebli. I'll keep that in mind.

Kind regards from Portugal.

i mean person on how to measure WBGT

Even if not in only in work places, I cannot help thinking of the effects of «global warming» and the recent heat wave in India, that is killing several thousands .

A warning of how Heat can be harmful to humans. and how our thermal comfort is important.

I pray for our Indian friends and their thermal comfort.

Dear Maria,

Natives can also be of unmeasurable help. They develop amazing skills, rudimentary but then you can adapt to follow safety rules. The closer you are to their solutions, the easier it will be to implent them. Those specialists mentioned above should not be discarted. But still stick to the locals solutions.

Thank you, dear Vilemar and dear Sayed Zaheen. Quite helpful and interesting, as usual.

Thank U. (dear Sayed, you just demonstrated that you don't need thermal comfort to remain intelligent and spiritually active !)

In places like our foundry, thermal stress will be more in addition to the normal working conditions, along with the climate induced impact. In India, though this time the severity is more, it is a common phenomenon to have heat wave impacts year on year.

• We serve suitable vegetables in the menu of lunch and dinner
• A glass of butter milk during day shift working
• A glass of milk during night shift working
• Uniform materials would be suitably chosen and supported with washing allowances as per work demands

Dear @Maria, I wish you success with building a vigilance protocol for workers of a small industrial plant in the field of ready-made meals. I do hope that this might help you in general. "Workers at risk of heat stress include outdoor workers and workers in hot environments such as fire-fighters, bakery workers, farmers, construction workers, miners, boiler room workers, factory workers, and others. Workers at greater risk of heat stress include those who are 65 years of age or older, are overweight, have heart disease or high blood pressure, or take medications that may be affected by extreme heat.

Prevention of heat stress in workers is important. Employers should provide training to workers so they understand what heat stress is, how it affects their health and safety, and how it can be prevented..." Different types of heat stress are treated! 

A brochure Protecting Yourself from Heat Stress is attached for dear @Maria.

http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/TOPICS/HEATSTRESS/

Peak heat stress, quantified by the wet-bulb temperature (used because it reflects both the ambient temperature and relative humidity of the site), is surprisingly similar across diverse climates and never exceeds 31°C. They suggest that if it rose to 35°C, which never happens now but would at a warming of 7°C, hyperthermia in humans and other mammals would occur as dissipation of metabolic heat becomes impossible, therefore making many environments uninhabitable.

http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1942/1866

Thermal stress is divided into 2 types: heat stress & cold stress. Obviously, both are very dangerous for health. You know, dear Mary, that when there is an infection (bacterial or viral), the first priority is to return the body's temperature into normal.

In the workplace, the staff are expected to demonstrate due care upon moving from cold place to warm place and vice versa. However, the workplace itself bears part of the responsibilty. In an industrial plant or a university there ought to be air conditioners & central heating. These means ought to be operated as long as it takes. Those, who operate these means for short times, are not wise enough & their justifications are illogical (such as they consume electricity heavily). The human health is much more important than any saving.

I am attaching a good reference which deals with the subject in an organized manner.

http://safemanitoba.com/sites/default/files/uploads/guidelines/thermalstress.pdf

Dear Maria, to deal with heat and cold stress it is important to understand some crucial issues:

1) Biometeorologial approach is very different from the Occupational Health approach. In the first case, most common indices try to assess 'heat stress levels' by collapsing into one number all information about the human body response to the climate. Moreover in many cases limit values of these indices can be affected by the local climate (e.g. a limit value for temperate regions is not reliable for warm and humid ones). Finally they work only for specific values of the metabolic rate (e.g. for a walking) and clothing.

2) Comfort indices as PMV, MUST (please excuse me for using capital letters) be used only in indoor environments in the presence of HVAC systems (ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55). In addition, the adaptive approach (very useful in naturally ventilated buildings) is valid only indoor. Therefore, some comfort diagrams cannot absolutely used for outdoor applications.

3) Presently in literature for heat stress assessment only PHS model (ISO 7933) meets reliability requirements in terms of efficacy and validation (it can be used indoor and outdoor).  It provides core temperature, water loss and maximum allowable exposure times. For cold stress the only standardized model is IREQ (ISO 11079).

4) WBGT (this is suggested by ISO 7243 for a rough assessment of heat stress) and UTCI indices can be used also for  bioclimatic applications as recently suggested in two special issues of Industrial Health and International Journal of Biometeorology. Their calculation is very easy.

5) this is a short list of references can be useful

·        Int J Biometeorol (2012) 56:419 DOI 10.1007/s00484-012-0546-6

·        http://www.jniosh.go.jp/en/indu_hel/doc/IH_51_6_643.pdf

·        Glob Health Action. 2010; 3: 10.3402/gha.v3i0.5719. doi: 10.3402/gha.v3i0.5719

·        Kjellstrom, T., Hogstedt, C., 2009. Global situation concerning work related injuries and diseases. In: Elgstrand K, Pettersson I, eds. OSH for Development. Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 741–761.

·        Hot environments - Estimation of the heat stress on working man, based on WBGT-index (wet bulb globe temperature) – ISO 7243 Standard. Geneva: ISO.

·        Parsons KC (2006) Heat Stress Standard ISO 7243 and its Global Application. Ind Health; 44: 368‒379.

·        ACGIH (2011) Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposures Indices, 2011. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Cincinnati.

·        d'Ambrosio Alfano FR, Malchaire J, Palella BI, Riccio G. WBGT index revised after 60 years of use. Annals of occupational hygiene 58-8 955-970

·        Budd GM (2008) Wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) – its history and its limitations. J Sci Med Sport; 11: 20-32.

I hope that these information can be useful for you.

For other questions, do not hesitate to contact me via email.

Best wishes

Dear @Maria, this paper Key role of lipids in heat stress management is a joint result of Serbian and Hungarian scientists under IPA cross border cooperation between this two countries. Almost 150 references! "Heat stress is a common and, therefore, an important environmental impact on cells and organisms. While much attention has been paid to severe heat stress, moderate temperature elevations are also important. Here we discuss temperature sensing and how responses to heat stress are not necessarily dependent on denatured proteins. Indeed, it is clear that membrane lipids have a pivotal function. Details of membrane lipid changes and the associated production of signalling metabolites are described and suggestions made as to how the interconnected signalling network could be modified for helpful intervention in disease." I think it will be very useful!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001457931300358X

Dear @Maria,

Hope following paper may be useful for your research

http://www.ijcmas.com/vol-3-9/S.B.Parameswarappa%20and%20J.%20Narayana.pdf

http://www.ijcmas.com/vol-3-9/S.B.Parameswarappa%20and%20J.%20Narayana.pdf

This is a real story which happenned on the end of last April: At a certain university in a 3rd world country, thermal stress combined with anxiety stress has left a university female graduate between life & death until now. She was among graduating students celebrating in a pre-graduation ceremony under direct blazing hot sun. Suddenly, she fell & her heart stopped beating. A fellow student's private car took her to the hospital & the initial impression of the MDs was that she was dead. After 40 minutes of stop, her heart returned to beat & she was & is still supported by the known instruments. She lost nearly all her powers of senses & the doctors told her relatives that she will never be back  to normal if she stays alive.

Are there other "crazy"universities which hold graduation ceremonies in the open under hot sun? Are there other "crazy" universities which do not have a single ambulance? 

Nizar sir. there are plenty of such crazy universities and institutions. Where graduation ceremony is not about students but the dignitaries.  Unfortunate but true. Sad that it had to be a student suffering for the world to take notice. But it is a big pointer to the question. Temperature does affect the performance levels of humans. Heat worst. It dries up the body.  

one can look at the people working in glass manufacturing or steel mills the effects are there to see. Am not aware of the studies but the miners (coal mines) have seen faster aging of body.

 You are right Dr. Sudeep Limaye, and this quote from "Encyclopaedia of Occupational health and Safety" proves that.

Quote "Children and very small adults face two potential disadvantages for work in hot environments. First, externally imposed work represents a greater relative load for a body with a small muscle mass, inducing a greater rise in core body temperature and more rapid onset of fatigue. In addition, the higher surface-to-mass ratio of small people may be a disadvantage under extremely hot conditions. These factors together may explain why men weighing less than 50 kg were found to be at increased risk for heat illness in deep mining activities.".

http://www.ilocis.org/documents/chpt42e.htm

Wow !

Thank you ! Thank you dear Roland!

Thank you all for your wonderrful, quite helpful and mostly interesting contributes!

You are wondeful people!

I thank you!

Dear Roland, as you may notice, above, I posted this question on October 2014, and got a few precious answers from great specialists, that you can check on the first pages. It was onlty after a quiescent rest of several months that this topic was suddenly reborn from its quiet near death, and am am thankful for the more recent contributes, such as yours.

The question of thermal stress and above all thermal comfort in work places has been worrying me for a while, as I take care of workers that enter refrigerators and high freezing chambers several times a day, for a short time, and then work in a hot, humid environment at intervals. Of course, the obvious thing to do is to have a division of tasks and an intermediate station with regular temperature. Those that work in the warm environment are protected from heat. Those that work in the cold enviropnment have adequate protective clothes. The intermediate station is used for the exchange of goods from one place to the other. It would be perfect if they all stood still, but there is inevitable disregard for rigid rules and we are a latin country with latin habits of communication... (Northern Eastern Europeans may not easily understand this!)

The several highly interesting and adequate documents here collected in this thread are extremely valuable to help build more apropriate protocols. And I intend to devote some time to this, soon.

I am very thankful for all, so many, valuable contributes that I see here.

I will surely send you what I collect as a text, and will be interested in your special contribute as a complement to my inevitable strickly medical point of view. Let us join hands in that task !!!

I consider RG members as part of a giant brotherhood, and we are here for interhelp. The great contributes to this technical question are here to proove that we do support each others. 

And this is good! Thank YOU.

I have been slowly (... tremendously slowly...) collecting the several precious and valuable contributes and references added here as generous answers to this question, toinclude on an article on Thermal stress in collaboration with Dr. Vilemar Magalhães and Dr. P. D. Gupta (both from RG)

So I have to thank you all for your generous contributes, and we will include your names, in acknowledgements, if you permit.

Thank you in advance !

Thanks a lot dear @Maria. Regards and respects to your co-authors.

So here it is. Just newly added online:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305488584_Heat_waves_in_non-conventional_areas_climate_change_and_disease_load_A_review

Article Heat waves in non-conventional areas, climate change and dis...

http://tcrjournals.com/tr_currentabstract.php?vid=64

Oh boy, I'm thrilled.

I cannot access the full text online, but from my personal copy of the first proof, I can transcribe here, the acknowledgements:

"(...)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank several colleague scientist researchers from the Online Platform Research gate, for their precious help in the redaction of this article, in particular, to Ljubomir Jacić; Emanuele Cauda;  B. I. Palella; Manfredi Montalti; Manoj Kumar Singh; Krishnan Umachandran; Nizar Matar; Ajit Borde; Sayed Zaheen Alam;  Roland Iosif Moraru and many others who collaborated with answers to the Question “  https://www.researchgate.net/post/Could_anyone_help_me_with_the_ issue_of_thermal_stress_in_work_places “, in which several of the present bibliographical references where generously provided."

Thanks for the acknowledgment dear @Maria. You will find my request. 

If we all remembered to add your name in acknowledgement, for your important contributes in RG questions, I'm sure your name would appear in seven million articles, dear Ljubomir!

Dear Maria,

You would like to see a paper on this topic on RG titled

Comparison of workers' perceptions toward work climate and health symptoms between ceramic and iron foundry workers

Article Comparison of workers’ perceptions toward work climate and h...

Drivers Stressed

Heat is a potentially aversive environmental element. Research investigated whether moderate heat stress (21º or 27ºC compartment temperature) reduced individuals' vigilance for a set of onboard signals while driving in actual traffic in Sweden. Average response times, across all signals, were significantly increased in the higher heat condition. Interestingly, data analysis revealed no significant differences until the second half hour of the driving task. 

Source - Raymond W. Novaco, Oscar I. Gonzalez, Commuting and Well-being, University of California, Irvine, USA

Thank you dear Krishnan. My belief is that heat stress arises when we are subject to sudden thermal changes.  As with plants and agricultural production.

Thank you for your upvote. Of course, I included your name in acknowledgements of my article.

Yes, dear Joydeep.

There are studies on whelding workers. Not much else, but general rules. This is a subject for better study, in the near future. Nothing much has been written on industrial food production units, and these workers are subject to high levels of humidity, on top of the heat stress.

I'm interested!

I found this interesting aproach to the present question.

I share:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293171850_Productivity_Loss_from_Occupational_Exposure_to_Heat_Stress_A_Case_Study_in_Brick_WorkshopsQom-Iran

Article Productivity Loss from Occupational Exposure to Heat Stress:...

This is research from Serbian army. Military service is a professional work, right!?

Physiological tolerance to uncompensated heat stress in soldiers: effects of various types of body cooling systems!

In military services, emergency situations when soldiers are exposed to a combination of nuclear,biological and chemical (NBC) contamination combined with heat stress, are frequent and complex. In these specific conditions, usage of personal body cooling systems may be effective in reducing heat stress. The present study was conducted in order to evaluate the efficiency of four various types of contemporary personal body cooling systems based on the “Phase Change Material” (PCM), and its effects on soldiers’ subjective comfort and physiological performance during exertional heat stress in hot environments...

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0042-8450/2014/0042-84501300045J.pdf

Great link, dear Ljubomir.

Thank you! (always helpful, always present !!!)

Temperature effects on GDP over time for nine regions

Black lines are projections using point estimates. Red shaded area is 95% confidence interval, colour saturation indicates estimated likelihood an income trajectory passes through a value. Photo by Burke M, Hsiang SM and Miguel E., Nature, 2015.

http://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ClimateVEconomic-Trends-by-region-until-2100.jpg

I am happy to see my name in your acknowledgement Maria.

Best wishes for more of your work.

Hi,

I attached to this message a link to a recent issue of the Annali Istituto Superiore di Sanità (2016; 52,3) which has published a lot of full open access papers, free of charge, about the relationship between climate change and occupational health.

Francesco

Sorry,

below you can find the link!

Francesco

http://www.iss.it/publ/index.php?lang=1&id=2987&tipo=3

Thank you, indeed very much, dear Francesco.

... unbelievable!

I was at this precise moment, working on the subject, to finish my long report on the subject, with preventive measures for the workers of a plant that is subject to thermal stress...I see your text has a long paragraph on preventive measures for occupational medicine.

Thank you. I wish the best for your New Year!

Dear Maria,

I am really very happy! 

Have a good work and..

 a New Great 2017 Year!

Best wishes

Francesco

Thank you, sir !

Best wishes for you !

I found this quite interesting...

I share:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310806784_The_effects_of_heat_stress_on_a_number_of_hematological_parameters_and_levels_of_thyroid_hormones_in_foundry_workers?ev=contentfeed&homeFeedVariantCode=d_EU&_iepl%5BviewId%5D=jZIs4kd1AJaIl10eoxOOmd0G&_iepl%5BsingleItemViewId%5D=MBSU9uXMTbrtARzxps52ctVg&_iepl%5BactivityId%5D=805178043404288&_iepl%5BactivityType%5D=service_add_recommendation_publication&_iepl%5BactivityTimestamp%5D=1486410620&_iepl%5BhomeFeedVariantCode%5D=d_EU&_iepl%5BrecommendationType%5D=cited_cited&_iepl%5BrecommendationDomain%5D=citations&_iepl%5Bcontexts%5D%5B0%5D=homeFeed&_iepl%5BinteractionType%5D=publicationFollowedOrReferencedView

Article The effects of heat stress on a number of hematological para...

https://www.researchgate.net/project/Thermal-comfort

Out of my domain. Regards, Emad

Dear @Maria, more on Thermal comfort!

Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation (ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55). Maintaining this standard of thermal comfort for occupants of buildings or other enclosures is one of the important goals of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) design engineers.

Thermal neutrality is maintained when the heat generated by human metabolism is allowed to dissipate, thus maintaining thermal equilibrium with the surroundings. The main factors that influence thermal comfort are those that determine heat gain and loss, namely metabolic rate, clothing insulation, air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air speed and relative humidity. Psychological parameters such as individual expectations also affect thermal comfort...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_comfort

Wow! thank you, dear Ljubomir. Helful.

Best wishes!

Dear @Maria

Important information, sources are excellent, I wish you success in your work

Dear Maria

Please follow this paper:

http://www.ieuvictas.org.au/files/2413/3163/9445/thermal.pdf

Regards 

 one more interesting link:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290946132_Heat_stress_measurement_according_to_WBGT_index_in_smelters

Article Heat stress measurement according to WBGT index in smelters

Saw this online

https://www.zurich.com/en/knowledge/topics/seasonal-hazards/nine-tips-to-reduce-heat-stress-in-the-workplace

Fine article dear Maria Bettencourt Pires

STRESS: INVISIBLE EPIDEMIC AT WORK

"The detrimental effects of stress often get downplayed and when it comes to workplace stress, this is especially true. People expect that work is supposed to be stressful and that if you are not stressed, you are not taking it seriously. However, this does not have to be the case. If you feel like a job is taking a strain on other aspects of your life, don’t hesitate to act.

Try talking to your boss and being honest about your health. You should try and work the best way you can, in a suitable environment. Though your work should be accommodating, when it comes down to it, there is no amount of money that can compensate for health problems due to stress...

Reducing Stress at Work Is Essential

Depression usually comes as a result of unfulfilled expectations. This is what happens when you suffer from workplace stress. You expect to be in a normal environment where you can showcase your skills and knowledge. Workplace stress ensues when you get nothing but tasks. And all this happens when you encounter lack of understanding. When you’re feeling negative, it’s your mind telling you to deserve more. Don’t hesitate to listen to it and find help or a better solution. Talk to a specialist or a friend; other people can help a lot

There is an onus on management to provide a safe and healthy work environment – one free of uncontrolled hazards, including excessive stress..."

https://insights.cermacademy.com/447-stress-invisible-epidemic-work-bill-pomfret-ph-d/