Impact of environmental conditions like temperature is usually not considered in the measurement of work content analysis. However, to ensure healthy work conditions, it is imperative that studies on the effects of heat and cold stress on workers' capacity are carried out and existing guidelines on working capacity be suitably modified. In this study, the effect of heat stress on the physical strength of subjects measured in terms of average push/ pull/ pedal/ grip force applied over 30 seconds was recorded. In dry bulb temperature studies, it was found that subjects showed a maximum strength at 20 o C or 25 o C and a 30% and 35 % drop in strength was observed at 5 o C and 40 o C respectively. In case of wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), the maximum strength was recorded between 13 o C to 21 o C and a 31% and 41% drop in strength was observed in the range 3 o C to 5 o C and 37 o C to 39 o C respectively. Statistical analysis of strength at ambient temperatures between 5 o C to 40 o C dry bulb values gave a second order "inverted-U" relationship between strength and temperature and, a second order "U-shaped" relationship between the drop in strength and temperature
The effect of temperature on the human cognitive response was studied using the Stroop test. In the study, 80 participants were subjected to temperatures varying from 5 o C to 40 o C and the Stroop score was measured. It was observed that 32.5% participants showed least Stroop score at 30 o C and 51.25% at 40 o C indicating better and quicker cognitive response at higher temperatures. Analysis using regression studies indicated a negative linear correlation between Stroop score and temperature with multiple R and R square value of 0.998 and 0.997 respectively. These results seem to indicate that participants were investing a greater amount of cognitive effort for a fast completion of the given task when exposed to thermal stress in order to compensate for the increased feeling of discomfort.
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