Spatio-temporal patterns of the minimum rest time for outdoor workers exposed to summer heat stress in South Korea
| Autor: | Gwangyong Choi, Hee-Choon Lee, Dae-Geun Lee, Hye-Min Kim, In-Gyum Kim, Seung-Wook Lee |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Atmospheric Science
Hot Temperature 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Summer heat Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Wet-bulb globe temperature Outdoor workers Heat Stress Disorders 01 natural sciences Occupational safety and health 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Peninsula Occupational Exposure Republic of Korea Humans Rest time 0105 earth and related environmental sciences 030203 arthritis & rheumatology geography geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology Workload Heat stress Climatology Environmental science Heat-Shock Response |
| Zdroj: | International journal of biometeorology. 64(10) |
| ISSN: | 1432-1254 |
| Popis: | In this study, the spatio-temporal characteristics of the minimum rest time for the safety of South Korean outdoor workers during hot summer months (June to August) are examined based on the hourly wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) across 27 weather stations in South Korea. The WBGT thresholds in the work-rest recommendation of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA 2017) for the quantification of the minimum rest time are evaluated through a comparison of the given thresholds with the occurrences of occupational heat-related illness patients due to outdoor work during hot summer months in South Korea. The long-term (2009–2018) average of the hourly WBGT values during summer months shows that outdoor workers with a moderate workload are exposed to heat stress during approximately 30% of the entire daytime working hours (06:00–18:00). According to the WBGT thresholds modified from the KOSHA (2017) guidelines, the daily minimum rest time for a moderate workload noticeably increases up to 18% (11 min/h) in mid-summer (late July and early August). During mid-summer, the minimum rest time for a continuous moderate outdoor workload even increases up to 31% (18 min/h) between 12:00 and 13:00 and is regionally higher in the southwestern than in the southeastern regions of the Korean Peninsula. These results suggest that in summertime high-heat environments, a mandatory rest time must be provided according to appropriate heat management programs for the safety of workers. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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