Evaluation of the Cooling Effect of an Outdoor Misting Fan for Workers in Hot Environments Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Craig Farnham (), Jihui Yuan and Kazuo Emura
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Craig Farnham: School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
Jihui Yuan: School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
Kazuo Emura: School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan

Clean Technol., 2025, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-25

Abstract: Heat stress on workers wearing PPE (Personal protective equipment) in hot outdoor environments is of rising concern, especially in cases when rest breaks and clothing changes are impractical. Mist fan evaporative cooling could provide low-energy continuous cooling, even during work activity. The cooling effect of a misting fan was compared to that of a fan alone, as well as natural convection. A thermal mannequin with heat flux sensors at eight body locations was exposed to an outdoor misting fan while being clothed in typical work clothes and PPE. Work clothes were dry or saturated with water to simulate sweat. The distance from the misting fan ranged from 4 m (wetting common) to 7 m (wetting unlikely). On average, the misting fan had a cooling effect of 0.31 met (18.3 W/m 2 ) higher than natural convection when PPE is worn with wet work clothes, and 0.35 met (20.3 W/m 2 ) higher than when PPE is worn with dry work clothes. This equates to reducing the thermal metabolic load from light industrial work to walking about in office work, or from standing to reclining. Under the ISO 7243 international standard for workers in hot environments, this would increase the acceptable WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) by over 0.6 °C.

Keywords: heat stress; evaporation cooling; mist; PPE; worker health; heat stroke (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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