Heat stress in the workplace

Heat stress in the workplace

heat stress

In hot weather, working can be quite uncomfortable or even overwhelming, especially if you don't have proper ventilation and if the humidity of the environment is high.

urine chart of dehydration

In some work processes that require or produce a lot of heat (cutting, grinding, welding etc.) or in activities where a significant physical effort is made.

working conditions can cause something more serious than discomfort from the excessive heat and create risks to the health and safety of workers even severe can lead to death.

With the strong heats of summer, especially at noon, heatwaves change the climate, this threat extends to many more risks to health and safety. Above all, it becomes especially dangerous in outdoor work.

Heat is a health hazard because our body function normally needs temperature inside unchanged around 37 oC. When body temperature exceeds 38 oC, damage to health and after 40 oC might be death.

The risks to the health and safety of workers arising from working in hot conditions due to excessive heat build-up in the body, regardless of whether it is caused by environmental conditions or Performed physical work or the use of personal protective equipment.

Symptom of heat stress:

Headache, 

Nausea,

Dizziness,

Thirst,

Sweating,

High body temperature,

Weakness,

Cramps,
Tiredness,

Heat stress includes:

Heat rash:

When sweat can not reach the skin due to dehydration, causing inflammation. Heat rashes include reddish itching pock, a blister on the skin due to working in a humid environment and heat rashes is the symptom of heat cramps.

Heat cramp:

Heat cramps due to lack of salt in the body. Lack of salt due to sweating, working in a humid environment. The low level of salt in the body causes pain in the leg, thigh, shoulder and abdomen. Heat cramps are the symptom of heat exhaustion.

Heat exhaustion:

Heat cramps lead to heat exhaustion. Working in a hot environment body unable to cool itself because no more fluid in the body for sweating, which causes vomiting, nausea, headache, weakness, dizziness, excessive sweating, rapid weak pulse, pale skin etc. Heat exhaustion led to heatstroke.

Heatstroke:

Heatstroke requires immediate medical treatment, heatstroke occur when body temperatures increase up to 40 degree Celsius or higher due to failure of sweating mechanism and body is unable to cool down.  The symptom of heatstroke is no sweating, red hot and dry skin, nausea and vomiting, rapidly increased pulse rate, unconscious, collapse etc.

When working under conditions of heat stress, the individual's body is disturbed due to loss of body fluid (sweating). Normally body cools itself by sweating. Due to heavy sweating, the body has not enough fluid to sweat, so evaporating mechanism fails, body temperatures keep rising to lead to dehydration.   

The intensity of heat stress and the severity of its effects depend on the intensity of the three factors:

• Environment: in some outdoor jobs (agriculture, construction, etc.); also, throughout the year or in closed or semi-closed places, where heat and humidity are inherent to the work process,

• The exposure time (duration of work): if it is long, even when thermal stress does not is too high, the worker can accumulate a dangerous amount of heat.

• Personal factors: lack of acclimatization to heat, obesity, age, health status, taking medications, poor physical shape, lack of rest, use of alcohol, drugs and excess caffeine,

What other factors are involved in the risks of heat stress?

Workers with cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, skin diseases, sweat gland diseases, diabetes, kidney failure, gastrointestinal diseases, epilepsy and mental illness are more vulnerable to heat stress, so they should not work in extremely hot conditions. 

It is important to follow the precaution to prevent heat stress,

• Know the symptoms of heat stress,

• avoiding or limiting the entry of heat environment and the generation of internal heat due to the activity

• you should drink water without waiting to be thirsty and take a little more salt with your meals. In the case of hypertension, the doctor should be consulted on how much salt to take.

• If there are no cool places to rest or stay, it is advisable to shower, bathing, wetting your body, or wrapping yourself in wet towels, as the evaporation of water on the skin refreshes the body.

• The workplace should be well ventilated and shaded, provision of heat stress shelter, provision of cool drinking water, job rotation, if it is possible to change day shift to night shift. Fix the time for work and rest such as 45 minutes work 15 minutes rest, 30 minutes work 30 minutes rest etc.

• Wear loose clothing, light colour and avoid working in direct sunlight.