Heat stress and strain in an aluminum smelter.

Abstract

Studies of worker heat stress and strain in aluminum smelters have found that heat exposure likely to exceed the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists' threshold limit value (TLV) and that the dose-response relationship between heat stress and strain was weak. A heat stress model based on climatic data and a task analysis indicated exposures to heat stress in excess of the TLV during the July/August study period. To study the impact of working above the TLV, heat strain data (i.e., oral temperature, recovery heart rate, average heart rate) were collected. Recovery heart rates indicated high strain most of the time, and oral temperatures after peak demands were above the no-strain threshold of 37.5 degrees C about a quarter of the time, indicating that heat stress had an effect. About 95% of the readings were below 38.0 degrees C, the acute oral temperature threshold for a safe exposure. Average heart rates over 6- and 12-hour intervals were generally below acceptable limits of 120 and 110 bpm, respectively. Oral temperature and average heart rates indicated good control of heat stress exposures. Because recovery heart rates were high, some employees were working near their individual limits. The dose-response relationship for recovery heart rate and oral temperature were examined against the level of heat stress above the TLV. There was no relationship between oral temperature and heat stress level. There was an apparent trend toward higher recovery heart rates with heat stress. The lack of a dose-response relationship may be explained by brief periods of very high wet bulb globe temperatures that drove the time-weighted average up out of proportion to the physiological response.