State of the art in heat stress evaluation and its future in the context of the European directives.
This address is divided in two parts. The first reviews the problems of heat stress evaluation: it describes the comprehensive approach adopted by ISO standards and in particular the rationale of the Required Sweat Rate index, and presents the work done during the ECSC interlaboratory study, which extends the application of this index to intermittent or fluctuating conditions of exposure. The second part presents a rapid overview of the European economic and social Directives proposed in anticipation of 1993. It suggests that occupational hygienists, occupational physicians, safety specialists, toxicologists and ergonomists should adopt a common view about the practical implications of these new Directives and contribute to their incorporation into national regulations.
Unité Hygiène et Physiologie du Travail, Université Catholique de Louvain, Bruxelles, Belgium.
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Malchaire
D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005062:European Union; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D012958:Societies, Scientific; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000209:etiology*; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology*