Development of a Draft British Standard: the Assessment of Heat Strain for Workers Wearing Personal Protective Equipment

摘要

Existing methods for estimating heat stress, enshrined in British/International Standards (the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index [BS EN 27243] and the Required Sweat Rate Equation [BS EN 12515; ISO 7933 modified]), assume that the clothing worn by the individual Is water vapour permeable; the WBGT index also assumes that the clothing is relatively light. Because most forms of personal protective equipment (PPE) either have a higher insulative Value than that assumed or are water vapour impermeable, the Standards cannot be accurately Applied to workers wearing PPE.