evaluation of relationship among wet bulb globe temperature index , oral temperature & heat strain scoring index in bakers of isfahan

abstract background: heat is one of the most important of harmful agents in many working environments such as bakeries that can cause prevalence of diseases related to heat and falling of efficiency. aim of this study was exposure evaluation of isfahan bakers to heat stresses in their working environment through evaluation of relationship among wet bulb globe temperature index (wbgt) , oral temperature & heat strain scoring index (hssi). methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 82 men that works in the 43 bakeries in isfahan city in both may and july 2013. in this study used wet bulb globe temperature index for evaluation of heat stress and used oral temperature and heat strain scoring index for evaluation of heat strain. finally to study of relationship among wet bulb globe temperature index, heat strain scoring index and oral temperature, pearson correlation was applied. findings: bakers were exposed to heat stresses in their working environment. more than 50 percent of workers were suffering from heat strain. heat stresses in bakeries with traditional cooking technology were in high levels as compared with bakeries that their cooking technology was mechanical. so that more than 68 percent of employed persons in bakeries with traditional cooking technology had impermissible exposure to heat stress. findings demonstrated that pearson correlation coefficient between wet bulb globe temperature index and heat strain scoring index was higher than 0.62. conclusion: on the basis of results of this study heat stress condition was worrying in bakeries of isfahan city. it seems that planning in order to control of heat stresses in bakeries of isfahan city is necessary. in this study heat strain scoring index demonstrated significant and direct relation with wet bulb globe temperature index therefore it seems that can use heat strain scoring index for evaluating of heat strain in hot environments like bakeries. key words: heat stress, wbgt index, hssi index, oral temperature, bakeries of isfahan.