Study on Physiological Effects on Palm Oil Mill Workers Exposed to Extreme Heat Condition

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine heat exposure on palm oil mill workers and its effect on physiological changes in them. Parameters considered environmental temperature, relative humidity, metabolic workload, body core temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. The average time of monitoring was 2 hrs for intermittent exposure and 8 hrs for overall exposure. Workers were exposed to moderate heat stress during this study period. There were significant differences between heat exposure and physiological changes before shift and after working for 2 hrs and 8 hrs, respectively. Metabolic workload of respondents in medium work category was 200-350 kcal/hr in respect to ACGIH level. Overall heat exposure levels in all divs. in this palm oil mills were found unsuitable for working duration of 8 hrs a day. This study also found that the WBGTin value exceeded the limit of ACGIH for a medium workload category (75% work, 25% rest). Ideally, every area in each division requires individuals to work for 50% of the time and rest for 50% of time for each working shift.