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Home > Projects
Health Impacts of Extreme Heat (2006)
Dr. Glenn Kenny and a team of researchers at the University of Ottawa's Laboratory of Human Bioenergetics and Environmental Physiology are implementing a multi-year research program to address issues related to potential ramifications of heat stress in the workplace and lack of preparedness and effective workplace heat stress management programs. They will also study the effects of heat strain on thermal balance and body heat storage.
Dr. Kenny and his team plan to extend their research program beyond the workplace to include examinations of the interactions of temperature regulation, hostile environments, aging, obesity and diabetes. Ultimately, the goal is to support the development of preventative measures and guidelines for at-risk populations.
Many Canadian workers routinely work in extremely hot environmental conditions, which often result from the nature of the industry itself. Many industries fail to understand the potential ramifications of heat stress, and there are few effective workplace heat stress management programs in place. The lack of preparedness is partly due to the fact that the risk of heat injury is perceived to be low. Although, the incidence of reported heat illness is low, the actual risk of heat-related injury is high. Heat stress impairs mental function, motor control and physical performance. The increased elevations in body temperature promote irritability, anger, and other emotional states, which can cause workers to overlook safety procedures or lose attention during hazardous tasks.
Safety standards for workers in hot environments do exist and have been established to define acceptable exposure times, or to evaluate preventative measures. These standards are based upon various heat stress indices such as:
* the wet bulb globe temperature index; and
* the required sweating rate index.
However, it has been demonstrated in numerous reports that these standards have an inherent limitation in their predictive ability. Under hot working conditions, it is important to provide an accurate means by which heat stress risk can be estimated. Underestimation can lead to higher numbers of heat-related disorders and injuries, while overestimation may lead to workers and supervisors disregarding recommended limits resulting in a breakdown of a heat stress management system. The major difficulty in devising a practical heat stress index stems from the complexity of heat stress and heat strain response. In order to improve or develop new heat stress control measures, a better understanding of the physiological response (or heat strain) of the individual during work performed in hot environments is needed.
Dr. Glenn Kenny and a team of researchers at the University of Ottawa's Laboratory of Human Bioenergetics and Environmental Physiology are in the process of implementing a multi-year research program to address many of these issues. The Laboratory of Human Bioenergetics and Environmental Physiology is one of the few research laboratories in the world that houses a fast-response direct calorimeter. Direct calorimetry is the standard for the evaluation of body heat storage. Consequently, Dr. Kenny and his team are uniquely positioned to study the effects of heat strain on thermal balance and body heat storage.
Dr. Kenny and his team plan to extend their research program beyond the workplace to include examinations of the interactions of temperature regulation, hostile environments, aging, obesity and diabetes. Ultimately, the goal is to support the development of preventative measures and guidelines for at-risk populations. This is especially important given;
* the impacts of climate change (increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves);
* the changing demographic (aging workforce); and
* the epidemiological (increasing incidence of obesity) nature of the Canadian public.
>>> For more information please contact Dr. G. Kenny at:
gkenny "AT" uottawa.ca
Note: This information was found at:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/climat/newsletter-bulletin-6/impacts_e.html#initiative
| Timeline | 2006 |
| Team | Dr. Glenn Kenny< |