Hygienic Assessment of the Risk of Disturbance of the Thermal State of Operators Employed in Oil Production and Treatment Enterprises in the Subarid Area

Abstract

Introduction: The petrochemical industry is significant in terms of potential hazard to human health. The objectives of the study were to assess the risk of overheating of the open-air oil production and treatment plant operators working in the subarid area and to develop a set of preventive measures aimed at optimizing the thermal state of workers. Materials and methods: We studied working conditions of crude oil treatment operators of two groups: desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators. To establish the workers’ thermal state we measured their body temperature at five skin points along with the rectal temperature and estimated the weighted average skin temperature, the average body temperature, heat content, and heat sensations. Results: We found that in summer time crude oil desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators spent 52-54% of the shift time in the open air being exposed to high air temperatures. The average shift value of the heat load index allowed us to classify their working conditions as class 3.2 and to justify the factor of hot occupational environment as a leading occupational risk factor. The effect of high ambient temperatures was intermittent. Two variants of the heating microclimate, identical in general shift heat load, but with different intermittent modes and average duration of a single exposure to high temperatures, caused different degrees of tension of the thermoregulatory mechanisms of desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators. Conclusion: We proved the risk of disturbance of the thermal state of operators of crude oil production and treatment facilities located in the subarid area that was higher for loading operators and could be interpreted as “high”. Key words: risk assessment, thermal state, petrochemical industry, subarid area.