The heat stress management program at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) requires implementation of protective controls on outdoor work based on observed values of wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). Through the mid 1990s, WBGT data were collected manually several times daily with a portable instrument, and the results were disseminated to onsite workers via telephone. Subsequent workforce reductions adversely affected the ability of the SRS industrial hygiene department to continue routine WBGT measurements. To ensure continued compliance with heat stress program requirements, a computer algorithm was developed which calculates an estimate of WBGT using standard meteorological measurements. In addition, scripts were developed to generate a calculation every 15-minutes and post the results to an Intranet web site.
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