Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia

A heat stress problem is one of the physical hazards that encountered tropical countries such as Malaysia. Most of steel mill workers were exposed to hot working condition in a different work process. The aim of present study was to identify the predicting factors of Acute Health Score (AHS). About...

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Main Author: Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/64817/1/FPSK%28m%29%202015%2047.pdf
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author Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah
author_facet Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah
author_sort Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah
collection UPM
description A heat stress problem is one of the physical hazards that encountered tropical countries such as Malaysia. Most of steel mill workers were exposed to hot working condition in a different work process. The aim of present study was to identify the predicting factors of Acute Health Score (AHS). About 220 confirmed male workers were participating in this study. The WBGT index during work varied from 27.6°C to 36.2°C. All of the work stations monitored had temperatures regularly exceeded the Threshold Limit Values (TLV) of heat stress recommended by ACGIH. The most common acute health effect among the workers included heat fatigue (96.8%),lethargic (90%), dizziness (82.3%), heat cramp (58.6%), unstable movement (48.2%),and heat rashes (44.5%). The respondents were classified in a heavy metabolic workload based on their work task analysis. The physiological changes shows the significant differences of body core temperature (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (p<0.05) and heart rate (p<0.05) before the shift starts, 2 hour of shift and at the end of the shift. The results from the study shows there was no significant correlation between WBGT Index and physiological changes of body core temperature (r=-0.23, p=0.34),systolic blood pressure (r=0.09, p=0.71), diastolic blood pressure (r=0.17, p=0.5) and heart rate (r=0.23, p=0.36). The results from the study also shows there was no significant correlation between WBGT Index and acute health score (r=-0.5, p=0.86).The regression analysis suggested sweating (p<0.05), age (p<0.05), duration of heat exposure (hours) (p<0.001) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) (p<0.001) are the predictors factors of acute health score (AHS). The finding in this study concluded that steel mill plant considered as a hot workplace area since most of their workplaces were exceed the acceptable temperatures, 28.2°C according to (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV). The high prevalence of acute health symptoms among the steel mill workers were heat fatigue, lethargic, dizziness, heat rashes, heat cramp and unstable movement.
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spelling upm.eprints-648172025-02-17T08:24:18Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/64817/ Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah A heat stress problem is one of the physical hazards that encountered tropical countries such as Malaysia. Most of steel mill workers were exposed to hot working condition in a different work process. The aim of present study was to identify the predicting factors of Acute Health Score (AHS). About 220 confirmed male workers were participating in this study. The WBGT index during work varied from 27.6°C to 36.2°C. All of the work stations monitored had temperatures regularly exceeded the Threshold Limit Values (TLV) of heat stress recommended by ACGIH. The most common acute health effect among the workers included heat fatigue (96.8%),lethargic (90%), dizziness (82.3%), heat cramp (58.6%), unstable movement (48.2%),and heat rashes (44.5%). The respondents were classified in a heavy metabolic workload based on their work task analysis. The physiological changes shows the significant differences of body core temperature (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (p<0.05) and heart rate (p<0.05) before the shift starts, 2 hour of shift and at the end of the shift. The results from the study shows there was no significant correlation between WBGT Index and physiological changes of body core temperature (r=-0.23, p=0.34),systolic blood pressure (r=0.09, p=0.71), diastolic blood pressure (r=0.17, p=0.5) and heart rate (r=0.23, p=0.36). The results from the study also shows there was no significant correlation between WBGT Index and acute health score (r=-0.5, p=0.86).The regression analysis suggested sweating (p<0.05), age (p<0.05), duration of heat exposure (hours) (p<0.001) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) (p<0.001) are the predictors factors of acute health score (AHS). The finding in this study concluded that steel mill plant considered as a hot workplace area since most of their workplaces were exceed the acceptable temperatures, 28.2°C according to (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV). The high prevalence of acute health symptoms among the steel mill workers were heat fatigue, lethargic, dizziness, heat rashes, heat cramp and unstable movement. 2015-04 Thesis NonPeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/64817/1/FPSK%28m%29%202015%2047.pdf Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah (2015) Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia. Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Heat Heat exhaustion
spellingShingle Heat
Heat exhaustion
Che Hasan, Nurul Atikah
Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title_full Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title_fullStr Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title_short Association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in Terengganu, Malaysia
title_sort association between extreme heat exposure and acute physiological change among steel mill workers in terengganu malaysia
topic Heat
Heat exhaustion
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/64817/1/FPSK%28m%29%202015%2047.pdf
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