Thermal Environment Evaluation According to Indices in Industrial Workplaces

Average person spends about one third of day at work. During working hours in industrial workplaces, workers can be exposed to possible heat and cold risks. A significant thermo-hygric microclimate in such workplaces is created by technological equipment. Thermo-hygric microclimate evaluation in workplaces is therefore very important and obtained results should lead to reduction of thermal loads on workers. The need of quick thermal environment assessment based on a few measurements and calculations has led into application of indices in thermal comfort assessment. The most used empirical index for assessment of hot stress potential is WBGT index (wet bulb globe temperature). WBGT index is the most used and accepted index for the assessment of heat stress in industry. This paper deals with monitoring of a workplace with hot microclimate where workers were exposed to stress from heat. The measurement, result processing and interpretation were carried out according to the EN 27243 and ISO 7730.