Table 4.
Workers' physiological and subjective responses.
| Industry/Activity |
Tcore, °C |
*Max Tcore, °C |
Tsk, °C |
Sweat rate, L·h−1 |
Dehydration (%body mass) |
Thermal Sensation/Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | ||||||
| Sheep shearing | 37.7 (0.3) | 38.4 | — | — | — | Warm - too hot |
| Horse back Mustering | 37.6 (0.3) | 38.1 | 34 (32–36) | — | — | — |
| Construction | ||||||
| Carpenters | 37.7 (37.5–38.1) | 38.1 | — | 0.47 (0.41–0.55) | 1.1 (0.4–2.0) | Uncomfortably warm |
| Laying and tying steel reinforcing | 37.2 (0.3) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mine construction | — | — | — | 1.03 (0.36) | 0.0 (1.5) | — |
| Defense | ||||||
| 5 km march, load 40 kg | 39.0 (37.7–41.2) | 41.2 | — | — | — | — |
| 10 km, 5.5 k·h−1, load 42 kg | 38.3 (0.4) | 39.1 (0.2) | — | — | — | — |
| 5 km, load 20 kg, 55 min | 38.4 (37.7–39.1) | 39.1 | — | — | — | Hot |
| 20 km, load 35 kg, 4.0 h | 38.7 (38.5–39.7) | 39.7 | — | — | — | Very Hot |
| 15 km march (August) | 38.3 (0.5) | ∼39 | — | — | — | Warm |
| 15 km march (November) | 38.5 (0.5) | 39.5 | — | — | — | — |
| Patrol & Recon, load 30 kg | (38.0–38.2) | 38.5 | 36.5 | 0.84 (0.72–0.97) | 0.8 | — |
| Tank crews | ||||||
| Exterior (June) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interior (June) | 38.3 (38.0–38.9) | 38.9 | — | — | — | — |
| Exterior (September) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interior (September) | 38.0 (37.6–38.4) | 38.4 | — | — | — | — |
| Jungle Patrol | ||||||
| No body armour, load 21 kg | 37.5 (0.18) | 37.9 (0.26) | — | — | — | — |
| With body armour, load 29 kg | 37.5 (0.15) | 37.9 (0.23) | — | — | — | — |
| Emergency services | ||||||
| Medical emergency resp team | 37.8 (0.5) | 38.5 | (34.0–34.6) | 0.54 (0.35–0.76) | 0.69 (0.44) | Warm |
| Search and Rescue | ||||||
| Heat acclimatized | 38.5 (0.5) | 39.6 | 36.2 (1.2) | 0.98 (0.31) | 0.8 (0.8) | Uncomfortably Hot |
| Non-heat acclimatized | 38.1 (0.3) | — | 36.3 (1.1) | 0.84 (0.12) | 0.5 (1.0) | Uncomfortably Hot |
| Prescribed burns | ||||||
| Day 1 | 37.3 (0.4) | 37.5 (0.7) | — | — | — | — |
| Day 2 | 36.7 (0.3) | 37.7 (0.4) | — | — | — | — |
| Bush fire, fireline constr. | ||||||
| With fire (F) | 38.2 | 39.6 | 35.4 | 1.37 | 1.53 | Just too warm |
| Without fire (NF) | 38.1 | 39.6 | 33.5 | 0.97 | 1.84 | Just too warm |
| Maintenance | ||||||
| Power station maintenance | 37.6 (37.2–37.9) | 37.9 | 33 (1) | 0.16 (0.11) | — | — |
| Council workers | 37.4 (0.2) | — | 33.2 (0.3) | 0.3 (0.2) | 2.4 (1.5) | — |
| Railway track maintenance | ||||||
| Day 1 | 37.7 (37.4–37.9) | 38.5 | 35 | 0.56 (0.44–0.64) | 2.4 (0.9–3.8) | Uncomfortably warm |
| Day 2 | 37.2 (36.8–37.6) | 37.9 | — | — | — | Uncomfortably warm |
| Day 3 | — | — | — | 0.40 (0.24–0.50) | 1.0 (0.4–1.6) | — |
| Electrical utility | ||||||
| (NT North) | 37.5 (0.3) | 37.9 (0.3) | — | 0.45 | −0.4 (0.9) | — |
| (NT South) | 37.5 (0.3) | 37.9 (0.3) | — | 0.43 | 0.5 (0.7) | — |
| Mining | ||||||
| Open cut mine processing | 37.5 (0.4) | 38.5 | — | 0.3 | 0.33 | — |
| Shipping/processing port | 37.5 (0.4) | 38.3 | — | 0.3 | 0.43 | — |
| Surface mine. Blast crew | 37.6 (0.2) | 37.8 (0.2) | — | — | — | — |
| Deep mine. 1200–1600 m | 37.6 (37.0–38.9) | 39.5 | — | — | — | — |
| Machinery operators | — | — | — | 0.38 (0.12) | −0.96 (0.05) | — |
| Various | — | — | — | 0.38 (0.09) | −0.34 (0.67) | — |
| Light manual work A | 36.8 (0.2) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Light manual work B | 37.0 (0.3) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Others | ||||||
| Zinc cathode strip | 38.3 (37.9–38.8) | 39.0 | 33–36 | 0.92 (0.58–1.24) | 2.8 (0.1–6.3) | Much too warm |
| Lead/zinc process operators | 37.6 (37.0–38.1) | 38.9 | — | 0.59 (0.50–0.65) | 0.5 (−0.5–1.2) | — |
*
Max Tcore denotes the highest observed individual Tcore.