The Relationship Between Heat, Work and Work Time Loss

The Relationship Between Heat, Work and Work Time Loss.  Its not simply a matter of counting widgets made over time!!

As we work to deal with the snow, ice and cold this winter what better time to remind ourselves of the coming summer heat … and all of the implications of this heat on our daily lives and work days.  Welcome to our Heat/Work Relationship Study, or rather the one found in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM)

Some Key Points to Remember When Reading the Research

1. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of workplace heat and cold on work time loss.  Work time loss is very different from researching productivity loss.  This study looked at how much time is lost in a shift versus how much output is lost based off of some baseline output.

2. Field experiments were conducted across several industrial sectors (agriculture, construction and tourism) and multiple countries (Cyprus, Greece, Nicaragua, Qatar, Slovenia and Spain), through several different seasons, between 2016 and 2024.  The field testing was done with 376 workers (100 females and 276 males) in the agriculture (227), construction (95) and tourism(54) industries across 603 full shifts.  Please note that this study was based on experienced and acclimated workers unlike most studies that will use volunteers.  So, lost time was not as high as would otherwise have occurred, but was a more accurate reflection of a real life scenario.

3. The Workplace Environmental Labor Loss (WELL) functions were developed based on WBGT and ambient temperature to describe work time loss due to workplace temperature in the hope that this new data will help to better understand the impacts of Climate Change.

4. They used a term that I was not familiar with called “work time loss”. We have always discussed the impact of heat (and cold) in the workplace in terms of productivity.  For this research, work time loss refers to time allocated to non-work-related activities excluding breaks provided by management, such as lunch breaks, during a work shift.  They took this approach as they felt there are too many variables not related to heat and cold that can impact output such as consistent availability of resources needed for the output.

5. Data was collected across a wide range of thermal conditions (0-36C WBGT and 0-44C ambient temperature.

Key Findings

While its not surprising that their findings found that heat does have a negative impact on working time within a given work shift, the temperatures at which we begin to see negative impacts on working time or work time losses was unexpected.  The temperature range at which heat begins to impact working time loss is much broader than originally thought.

I do believe that because this study used experienced and acclimated workers, it provided a much more realistic perspective of the impact of heat on working time loss.  Being experienced and acclimated, the “test” subjects were better skilled than your average volunteer in dealing with work and working in the heat.

Some General Findings from the Research Study “The Impact of Workplace Heat and Cold on Work Time Loss”

1. The WELL functions and the WBGT and ambient temperature data revealed that the least work time loss is observed at 16C WBGT or 18C ambient temperature within the range tested.  In these conditions the average person worked 7.4hrs in an 8hr shift.

2. However, when the WBGT is at 36C or 40C ambient temperature the work time loss hits 3.4hrs or nearly half the shift.

3. They were able to track the work time loss against each degree change in temperature.  Very kewl!

4. One final conclusion that really caught my attention.  While the study showed that work time loss is less extreme than originally thought (mainly due to evaluating experienced acclimated workers instead of volunteers), it is much more widespread, extending to thermal conditions that were previously thought to be unaffected.  The findings found that work time loss does not just occur in very hot work places but also occurs in more temperate environments.  In other words, the range of temperature that we see a work time loss occur is broader than originally thought, thereby impacting more people.

JOEM is not alone in these new findings.

“A new study out of the University of Ottawa found that our bodies start to struggle in hot and humid conditions much sooner than scientists used to believe.

Instead of the previously accepted threshold of 35°C (95°F) wet-bulb temperature (which combines heat and humidity), the real danger zone could begin as low as 26–31°C (78–88°F) — levels we are already seeing in some places.”

Possible Solutions (Not Part of the Study)

1. You guessed it.  #Coolingvests and accessories specifically designed to combat the risks of heat fatigue and heat stress.  #Coolingsolutions such as cooling vests made using active cooling technologies such as #KewlFabric 7101or KFS PCM technologies help the user to manage the impacts of heat.

1. Awareness of what all of the options available for helping workers manage the threat of heat fatigue and heat stress beyond rest, shade and water, so that they can maintain productivity by maximizing their working hours.  This may sound like an ideal outcome for a big corporation, but just think about how many people work for themselves on their farms, or fishing boats or construction companies, where the work they do each day is for themselves and their families.  Work time losses to them are a very serious concern.

2. How about a study like the one we are discussing that now looks at work time losses when solutions like cooling vests are used.  Only we cant wait 8yrs!!

You can read the full study at JOEM

The Technology of Kewl! Beat The Heat! Get It Done!