Comparing the Heat Stress (DI, WBGT, SW) Indices and the Men Physiological Parameters in Hot and Humid Environment

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background and Objectives: Heat stress is considered as a serious threat to the health and safety of workers in many industries, including petrochemical and steel. Assessment of the heat stress is important from the disease prevention point of view and also for the safety and performance of workers at workplace. Although there are many indices to evaluate the heat stress, it is hard to select an applicable index for a wide range of weather conditions. The purpose of the study was to develop an optimal index based on physiological parameters in a petrochemical industry. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a petrochemical industry located in Assaluyeh (south of Iran). Twenty one healthy young men at different levels of fitness and heat acclimation volunteered to participate in the study. Physiological parameters including heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, skin temperature and oral temperature were measured during the working day over two consecutive weeks. Simultaneously, we measured the climatic parameters required to calculate the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), required sweat rate (SWreq), and the discomfort index (DI) indices. Results: All the measurements took place on 2 sites: Kar (working place) and Paziresh (resting room). Our results showed that the mean values of indices and physiological parameters in Kar for both acclimated and unacclimated groups were significantly higher than Paziresh (P<0.05). There was the strongest linear correlation between WBGT and heart rate (0.731), systolic blood pressure (0.695) and diastolic blood pressure (0.375) and skin temperature (0.451) respectively. The amounts of DI were 0.725, 0.446, 0.352, and 0.689 respectively. But the strongest linear relationship existed between SWreq and deep body temperature (0.766). Conclusion: There were significant differences in the present indices and physiological parameters of Kar and Paziresh, confirming the previous studies findings. Finally, WBGT was considered optimal index and the results revealed the almost perfect linear correlation between WBGT and heart rate. We propose WBGT can be the most applicable index for evaluating heat stress in this climate. st1":*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm