Effectiveness of a newly designed construction uniform for heat strain attenuation in a hot and humid environment

Yi, Wen; Chan, Albert P.C.; Wong, Fkw; Wong, Del P.

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2016.04.011

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Protecting workers’ health while maintaining labor productivity is vital [ 16 , 17 , 18 ] and has driven many researchers to investigate the effectiveness of different heat mitigation strategies [ 19 , 20 ]. Specifically, heat mitigation strategies such as planned breaks [ 21 ], use of personal cooling vests [ 22 , 23 ], ice slurry consumption [ 22 , 24 ], optimized clothing [ 25 ], and ventilated garments [ 26 , 27 ] were previously tested in lab settings for mitigating the OH-strain experienced by individuals performing physical work (typically exercise). However, there is limited knowledge regarding the capacity of these heat mitigation strategies to protect workers’ health and labor productivity in occupational settings, taking into account real-life work-related parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Heat Stress: Multi-Country Observations and Interventions

Ioannou

Mantzios

Tsoutsoubi

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Occupational heat exposure can provoke health problems that increase the risk of certain diseases and affect workers’ ability to maintain healthy and productive lives. This study investigates the effects of occupational heat stress on workers’ physiological strain and labor productivity, as well as examining multiple interventions to mitigate the problem. Methods: We monitored 518 full work-shifts obtained from 238 experienced and acclimatized individuals who work in key industrial sectors located in Cyprus, Greece, Qatar, and Spain. Continuous core body temperature, mean skin temperature, heart rate, and labor productivity were collected from the beginning to the end of all work-shifts. Results: In workplaces where self-pacing is not feasible or very limited, we found that occupational heat stress is associated with the heat strain experienced by workers. Strategies focusing on hydration, work-rest cycles, and ventilated clothing were able to mitigate the physiological heat strain experienced by workers. Increasing mechanization enhanced labor productivity without increasing workers’ physiological strain. Conclusions: Empowering laborers to self-pace is the basis of heat mitigation, while tailored strategies focusing on hydration, work-rest cycles, ventilated garments, and mechanization can further reduce the physiological heat strain experienced by workers under certain conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Heat Stress: Multi-Country Observations and Interventions

Ioannou

Mantzios

Tsoutsoubi

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…Chan and his colleagues administered a series of field surveys to evaluate the acceptability and practicality of wearing personal cooling vests at construction sites45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 ) . A new work uniform designed for construction workers have been proved to be effective in easing heat strain and improving wearing comfort through a series of laboratory and field experiments and questionnaire surveys51, 52, 53, 54, 55 ) . Despite these, the major challenges of these studies lied in that only limited garments were scrutinized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two important sampling issues in intervention research are subject selection and sample size; the former indicates the generalizability of findings and selection bias, whereas the latter may affect desired outcomes11 ) . University students were recruited as the subjects to perform the experimental trials in laboratory settings33, 53, 54 ) . However, the difference in physics between university students and construction workers should be recognized and thus, the generalizability of their findings was questioned.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat stress intervention research in construction: gaps and recommendations

Yang

Chan

2017

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH

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Developing heat stress interventions for construction workers has received mounting concerns in recent years. However, limited efforts have been exerted to elaborate the rationale, methodology, and practicality of heat stress intervention in the construction industry. This study aims to review previous heat stress intervention research in construction, to identify the major research gaps in methodological issues, and to offer detailed recommendations for future studies. A total of 35 peer-reviewed journal papers have been identified to develop administrative, environmental or personal engineering interventions to safeguard construction workers. It was found that methodological limitations, such as arbitrary sampling methods and unreliable instruments, could be the major obstacle in undertaking heat stress intervention research. To bridge the identified research gaps, this study then refined a research framework for conducting heat stress intervention studies in the construction industry. The proposed research strategy provides researchers and practitioners with fresh insights into expanding multidisciplinary research areas and solving practical problems in the management of heat stress. The proposed research framework may foster the development of heat stress intervention research in construction, which further aids researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in formulating proper intervention strategies.

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“…Physiological factors have been considered the main predictor of HHC impacts on workers' HS. These factors can reflect the heat strain status of site workers and vary widely among different workers even in the same work-related and environment conditions (ACGIH, 2006;OSHA, 2017;Yi et al, 2017a). The influence and measurement of physiological factors have received considerable attention in the literature.…”

Section: Real-site Data Collection Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the intrusiveness and selection of real-site data collection methods in hot and humid climates: critical review

Moohialdin

Lamari

Miska

et al. 2020

ECAM

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PurposeHot and humid climates (HHCs) are potential environmental hazards that directly affect construction workers' health and safety (HS) and negatively impact workers' productivity. Extensive research efforts have addressed the effects of HHCs. However, these efforts have been inconsistent in their approach for selecting factors influencing workers in such conditions. There are also increasing concerns about the drop-off in research interest to follow through intrusive and non-real-time measurements. This review aims to identify the major research gaps in measurements applied in previous research with careful attention paid to the factors that influence the intrusiveness and selection of the applied data collection methods.Design/methodology/approachThis research integrates a manual subjective discussion with a thematic analysis of Leximancer software and an elaborating chronological, geographical and methodological review that yielded 701 articles and 76 peer-reviewed most related articles.FindingsThe literature included the physiological parameters as influencing factors and useful indicators for HHC effects and identified site activity intensity as the most influencing work-related factor. In total, three main gaps were identified: (1) the role of substantial individual and work-related factors; (2) managerial interventions and the application of the right time against the right symptoms, sample size and measurement intervals and (3) applied methods of data collection; particularly, the intrusiveness of the utilised sensors.Practical implicationsThe focus of researchers and practitioners should be in applying nonintrusive, innovative and real-time methods that can provide crew-level measurements. In particular, methods that can represent the actual effects of allocated tasks are aligned with real-time weather measurements, so proactive HHC-related preventions can be enforced on time.Originality/valueThis review contributes to the field of construction workers' safety in HHCs and enables researchers and practitioners to identify the most influential individual and work-related factors in HHCs. This review also proposes a framework for future research with suggestions to cover the highlighted research gaps and contributes to a critical research area in the construction industry.

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Effectiveness of a newly designed construction uniform for heat strain attenuation in a hot and humid environment

Cited by 13 publications

References 54 publications

Occupational Heat Stress: Multi-Country Observations and Interventions

Occupational Heat Stress: Multi-Country Observations and Interventions

Heat stress intervention research in construction: gaps and recommendations

Factors affecting the intrusiveness and selection of real-site data collection methods in hot and humid climates: critical review

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