Thermal Work Limit (TWL) is defined as the limiting (or maximum) sustainable metabolic rate that well-hydrated, acclimatized individuals can maintain in a specific thermal environment, within a safe deep body core temperature (< ) and sweat rate (< per hour). The index is designed for self-paced workers and does not rely on estimation of actual metabolic rates, a process that is difficult and subject to considerable error. The index has been introduced into the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, resulting in a substantial and sustained fall in the incidence of heat illness in the latter.

History

The idea of a thermal work limit (TWL) was developed by Dr. Graham Bates and Dr. Derrick Brake in 1997. Over the past 80 years, many heat stress indices have been developed to assist with the management of heat stress problems. Some of these have been developed for particular industries and empirically derived such as ISO 7933 and WBGT. These indices required estimation of metabolic rate but failed to consider the direct measurement of wind speed, reduction of work rate, location and time shift during work and removal of clothing, making these indices not accurate for self-paced and acclimatized workers. The need for a heat stress index designed primarily for self-paced workers has led to the development of the thermal work limit (TWL). TWL and its accompanying management protocols have been introduced into several industrial operations where workers are subject to thermal stress. Approximately 1400 persons work in these locations with over 10 million man-shifts being worked between 1965 and 1995 at wet bulb temperatures in excess of . Since the introduction of TWL-based policies in the Australian mining industry, the amount of

man-hour A man-hour (sometimes referred to as person-hour) is the amount of work performed by the average worker in one hour. It is used for estimation of the total amount of uninterrupted labor required to perform a task. For example, researching and wr ...

s lost due to serious heat illness has fallen from 12 million to 6 million, and the amount lost due to all heat illness incidences has fallen from 31 million to 18 million.

Theory

The basic purpose of the thermal work limit index is to calculate the maximum metabolic rate, in watts of metabolic heat per square meter of body surface area, that can be continuously expended in a particular thermal environment, in order to keep the body within safe physiological limits. The TWL is an integrated measure of the dry bulb, wet bulb, wind speed and radiant heat. From these variables, and taking into consideration the type of clothing worn and acclimatization state of the worker, the TWL predicts the maximum level of work that can be carried out in a given environment, without workers exceeding a safe core body temperature and sweat rate. In excessively hot conditions, the index can also determine the safe work duration, thus providing guidelines for work/rest cycling. Sweat rates are also calculated, so the level of fluid replacement necessary to avoid dehydration can be established. The thermal work limit algorithm builds on work originated by Mitchell and Whillier, who developed an index “specific cooling power,” which subsequently became known as “air cooling power” (ACP). TWL working zone

Methodology

To determine TWL the following must be measured: * Dry Bulb Temperature (ambient air temperature) (in degrees °C) *

Wet Bulb Temperature The wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is the temperature read by a thermometer covered in water-soaked (water at ambient temperature) cloth (a wet-bulb thermometer) over which air is passed. At 100% relative humidity, the wet-bulb temperature is equal ...

(determined by the humidity/evaporation) (in degrees °C) * Globe Temperature (determined by the radiant heat) (in degrees °C) *

Wind speed In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer. Wind speed ...

in meters per second The thermal environment can be classified on the basis of TWL into the working zones shown in the adjacent image.

Application

The TWL heat stress index is the heat stress index that has been included in the Abu Dhabi EHSMS code of practice for the management of Heat Stress. TWL gives a measure of the maximum safe work rate for the environmental conditions present at a worksite. If TWL is too low then even low rates of work cannot safely be carried out continuously and extra rest breaks and other precautions are needed to ensure worker safety.

References

{{Reflist, 3, refs= {{Cite journal , last1 = Miller , first1 = V. S. , last2 = Bates , first2 = G. P. , doi = 10.1093/annhyg/mem035 , title = The Thermal Work Limit is a Simple Reliable Heat Index for the Protection of Workers in Thermally Stressful Environments , journal = Annals of Occupational Hygiene , volume = 51 , issue = 6 , pages = 553–561 , year = 2007 , pmid = 17878259, doi-access = free {{Cite journal , last1 = Brake , first1 = D. J. , last2 = Bates , first2 = G. P. , doi = 10.1080/104732202753438261 , title = Limiting Metabolic Rate (Thermal Work Limit) as an Index of Thermal Stress , journal = Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene , volume = 17 , issue = 3 , pages = 176–186 , year = 2002 , pmid = 11871754 {{cite web , title = The Thermal Work Limit Heat Stress Index , work = Health Authority - Abu Dhabi , url = http://www.haad.ae/Safety-In-Heat/Default.aspx?tabid=94 , access-date = May 15, 2013 , archive-url = https://archive.today/20130515053340/http://www.haad.ae/Safety-In-Heat/Default.aspx?tabid=94 , archive-date = May 15, 2013 , url-status = dead {{Citation , last1 =Brake , first1 =D.J. , last2 =Donoghue , first2 =M.D. , last3 =Bates , first3 =G.P. , title =A New Generation of Health and Safety Protocols for Working in Heat , date=August 1998 , url =http://www.aqualyte.com.au/pdf/Working%20In%20Heat%20Principles%20paper.pdf {{citation , title=ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals , location= Atlanta , publisher=

ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the ...

, date= 1997 {{Citation , title =Hot Environments – Analytical Determination and Interpretation of Thermal Stress Using Calculation of Required Sweat Rate (1st ed.) , journal =Iso 7933 , publisher = International Organization for Standardization, location=Geneva, Switzerland, year =1989 {{Cite journal , last1 = Hanson , first1 = M. , title = Development of a draft British Standard: The assessment of heat strain for workers wearing personal protective equipment , doi = 10.1016/S0003-4878(99)00053-8 , journal = The Annals of Occupational Hygiene , volume = 43 , issue = 5 , pages = 309–319 , year = 1999 , pmid = 10481630 {{Cite journal , last1 = Bricknell , first1 = M. C. M. , title = Heat Illness in the Army in Cyprus , doi = 10.1093/occmed/46.4.304 , journal = Occupational Medicine , volume = 46 , issue = 4 , pages = 304–312 , year = 1996 , pmid = 8854710, doi-access = free {{citation, last1= Mitchell, first1= D., last2=Whillier , first2= A., year= 1971, title= Cooling power of underground environments, journal= Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, volume= 71, pages= 93–9 {{Citation , title =Abu Dhabi EHSMS Regulatory Framework (AD EHSMS RF): Technical Guideline: Safety in the Heat , version =2.1 , date=April 2013 , url =http://www.adehsms.ae/Documents/ADEHSMS/05_Guidelines/Technical%20Guidelines/AD%20EHSMS%20RF%20-%20TG%20-%20Safety%20in%20the%20Heat.pdf {{cite conference , last1= Brake, first1= D. J., last2= Bates, first2= Graham, year= 2000, title= Occupational heat illness: an interventional study, conference= International Conference on physiological and cognitive performance in extreme environments, location=Canberra

External links

TWL instrumentTWL calculator
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