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Thermal indices and thermophysiological modelling for heat stress
journal contribution
posted on 2015-07-06, 13:56 authored by George HavenithGeorge Havenith, Dusan FialaThe assessment of the risk of human exposure to heat is a topic as relevant today as a century
ago. The introduction and use of heat stress indices and models to predict and quantify heat stress
and heat strain has helped to reduce morbidity and mortality in industrial, military, sports, and
leisure activities dramatically. Models used range from simple instruments that attempt to mimic
the human-environment heat exchange to complex thermophysiological models that simulate both
internal and external heat and mass transfer, including related processes through (protective) clothing.
This article discusses the most commonly used indices and models and looks at how these
are deployed in the different contexts of industrial, military, and biometeorological applications,
with focus on use to predict related thermal sensations, acute risk of heat illness, and epidemiological
analysis of morbidity and mortality. A critical assessment is made of tendencies to use
simple indices such as WBGT in more complex conditions (e.g., while wearing protective clothing),
or when employed in conjunction with inappropriate sensors. Regarding the more complex
thermophysiological models, the article discusses more recent developments including model individualization
approaches and advanced systems that combine simulation models with (body
worn) sensors to provide real-time risk assessment. The models discussed in the article range from
historical indices to recent developments in using thermophysiological models in (bio) meteorological
applications as an indicator of the combined effect of outdoor weather settings on humans.
History
School
- Design
Published in
Comprehensive PhysiologyCitation
HAVENITH, G. and DUSAN, F., 2015. Thermal indices and thermophysiological modelling for heat stress. Comprehensive Physiology, 6 (1), pp. 255 - 301Publisher
Wiley © American Physiological Society. All rights reservedVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2015Notes
This article is closed access.ISSN
2040-4603eISSN
2040-4603Publisher version
Language
- en