The effect of moderate thermal stress on the potential work performance of factory workers — an interim report

Abstract

An extended study of the effect of moderate thermal stress on the performance of tasks simulating aspects of industrial work has been under way since 1977. Factory workers were used as test subjects, each being exposed to a single test condition for a full shift in a mobile climate laboratory. Analyses completed so far reveal a fall in the performance of manipulative tasks of approximately 10% when finger skin temperatures (FST) fall to 20°C, and a further 10% at about 12°C. The FST of black male subjects typically reached these values at air temperatures about 4°C higher than gave rise to similar FST's in white subjects. For many of the tasks the air temperature which produced best performance in the range 20–38°C, was 32°C at a relative humidity of 25%. The subjects nevertheless reported preferred temperatures in the expected range of 20–23°C.