Use of Thermoregulatory Models to Evaluate Heat Stress in Industrial Environments

Irena I. Yermakova, Adam W. Potter, António M. Raimundo, Xiaojiang Xu, Jason W. Hancock and A. Virgilio M. Oliveira
Additional contact information
Irena I. Yermakova: International Scientific-Training Centre for Information Technologies and Systems, UNESCO, National Academy of Sciences, 03187 Kyiv, Ukraine
Adam W. Potter: Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Avenue, Bldg 42, Natick, MA 01760, USA
António M. Raimundo: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ADAI-LAETA, University of Coimbra, Pólo II da Universidade de Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Xiaojiang Xu: Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Avenue, Bldg 42, Natick, MA 01760, USA
Jason W. Hancock: Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Avenue, Bldg 42, Natick, MA 01760, USA
A. Virgilio M. Oliveira: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ADAI-LAETA, University of Coimbra, Pólo II da Universidade de Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: 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 ( T Brain ), skin ( T Skin ), core body ( T Core ), 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 ( T Brain 37.8 ± 0.25, T Skin 36.7 ± 0.49, T Core 37.8 ± 0.45 °C, and ER 207.7 ± 60.4 W) and extreme heat ( T Brain 39.1 ± 0.58, T Skin , 38.6 ± 0.71, T Core 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.

Keywords: physiology; biophysics; thermoregulation; heat stress; glass industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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