Abstract
Forest equipment operators in the southern United States work in elevated temperatures for a significant portion of the year. The thermal work environment is a combination of climatic, metabolic, and mechanical heat loads. While air-conditioning forest machines would alleviate heat-related health and productivity problems, it is not commonly applied to southern forest machines. There is a general perception that air conditioning is a luxury option rather than an effective part of the man-machine system. This study examined the utilization of feller/bunchers to determine if air conditioning affected the way the equipment was used. Standard time study data and temperature measurements were collected on five air-conditioned and five nonair-conditioned machines. Analysis of the data indicated that length of workday and crew differences were the only factors that significantly affected machine utilization. Estimated cab WBGT temperatures in the nonair-conditioned machines exceeded NIOSH recommended guidelines, however.
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