title: Evaluation of the metabolic rate based on the recording of the heart rate.
abstract: The assessment of harsh working conditions requires a correct evaluation of the metabolic rate. This paper revises the basis described in the ISO 8996 standard for the evaluation of the metabolic rate at a work station from the recording of the heart rate of a worker during a representative period of time. From a review of the literature, formulas different from those given in the standard are proposed to estimate the maximum working capacity, the maximum heart rate, the heart rate and the metabolic rate at rest and the relation (HR vs. M) at the basis of the estimation of the equivalent metabolic rate, as a function of the age, height and weight of the person. A Monte Carlo simulation is used to determine, from the approximations of these parameters and formulas, the imprecision of the estimated equivalent metabolic rate. The results show that the standard deviation of this estimate varies from 10 to 15%.
authors.affiliation: Unité Hygiène et Physiologie du Travail-Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malchaire
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale-Università di Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca Romana
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: d'AMBROSIO Alfano
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale-Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy.
authors.forename: Boris Igor
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Palella
mesh_terms: D001481:Basal Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006804:Ergonomics / Q000379:methods*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D055686:Metabolic Equivalent; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D016526:Workload
keywords: Accuracy; Ergonomics; Heart rate; Metabolic rate; Thermal stress; Workload