An exploratory survey of on-site heat stress management practices in the Canadian mining industry.

IF 1.5 4区 医学 Q4 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene Pub Date : 2024-05-01 Epub Date: 2024-05-08 DOI:10.1080/15459624.2024.2332722
Emily J Tetzlaff, Fergus K O'Connor, Robert D Meade, Glen P Kenny
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Abstract

With climate change fueling more frequent and intense periods of hot weather, heat stress management programs are becoming increasingly important for protecting the health and safety of workers in the Canadian mining industry. While the inclusion of heat-mitigation measures such as those provided by the American College of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) are commonly employed by industry, there is a need to develop more comprehensive industry-specific measures for heat stress prevention and management. To better understand current heat management practices and identify opportunities for improvement, an exploratory survey of 51 employees responsible for health and safety at underground mining (n = 35), and surface operations (n = 16) (e.g., open-pit mining, milling, smelting, and exploration site) was conducted in Canada. The respondents answered 50 questions related to workplace heat stress management, including descriptors of the workplace environment, perceived heat stress hazard, administration of heat stress management programming, heat stress emergency procedures, environmental monitoring strategies, and knowledge of mining-specific regulations related to heat stress. Twenty-four managers (47%) reported that heat-related illnesses led to restricted duty or lost time claims at their site, with a median of 5 [IQR: 2-10, max: 30] reportable heat-related illnesses occurring per site annually. Many also felt that heat-related illnesses are under-reported by their workforce (n = 36, 71%). Most sites reported established heat stress management programs to prevent heat illness (n = 43, 84%), typically based on the TLVs (n = 38, 75%). Although some organizations do conduct pre-task evaluations for heat stress (n = 30, 59%), more than half do not conduct post-job evaluations (n = 28, 55%) or pre-employment screening for heat stress vulnerability (n = 3, 6%). While our findings indicate that the health and safety managers recognize the hazard posed by heat and have stated practices to help address the hazard, we also observed inconsistencies in heat stress management programming across the sample. Developing and adopting a standard heat stress management and reporting system would be an important step toward protecting workers from existing and emerging threats from extreme heat and climate change.

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对加拿大采矿业现场热应力管理方法的探索性调查。
随着气候变化导致炎热天气更加频繁和剧烈,热应力管理计划对于保护加拿大采矿业工人的健康和安全变得越来越重要。虽然业界普遍采用美国政府工业卫生学家学会(ACGIH)提供的阈限值(TLVs)等防暑降温措施,但仍有必要制定更全面的针对特定行业的热应力预防和管理措施。为了更好地了解当前的热管理实践并确定改进机会,我们在加拿大对地下采矿(35 人)和地面作业(16 人)(如露天采矿、磨矿、冶炼和勘探现场)中负责健康和安全的 51 名员工进行了一项探索性调查。受访者回答了 50 个与工作场所热应激管理有关的问题,包括工作场所环境描述、热应激危害感知、热应激管理计划管理、热应激应急程序、环境监测策略以及对矿业热应激相关法规的了解。二十四名管理人员(47%)报告说,在他们的工作场所,热相关疾病导致了限制值班或误工索赔,每个工作场所每年发生的可报告热相关疾病的中位数为 5 [IQR:2-10,最大值:30]。许多人还认为其员工对热相关疾病的报告不足(n = 36,71%)。大多数场所报告已制定了预防热病的热应激管理计划(n = 43,84%),通常以 TLV 为基础(n = 38,75%)。尽管有些组织会在任务前进行热应激评估(n = 30,59%),但超过一半的组织没有进行工作后评估(n = 28,55%)或热应激易感性就业前筛查(n = 3,6%)。尽管我们的调查结果表明,健康与安全管理人员认识到了高温带来的危害,并制定了有助于应对这种危害的措施,但我们也注意到,在整个样本中,热应激管理方案的制定并不一致。开发和采用标准的热应激管理和报告系统将是保护工人免受现有和新出现的极端高温和气候变化威胁的重要一步。
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来源期刊
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 环境科学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生
CiteScore
3.30
自引率
10.00%
发文量
81
审稿时长
12-24 weeks
期刊介绍: The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene ( JOEH ) is a joint publication of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA®) and ACGIH®. The JOEH is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to enhancing the knowledge and practice of occupational and environmental hygiene and safety by widely disseminating research articles and applied studies of the highest quality. The JOEH provides a written medium for the communication of ideas, methods, processes, and research in core and emerging areas of occupational and environmental hygiene. Core domains include, but are not limited to: exposure assessment, control strategies, ergonomics, and risk analysis. Emerging domains include, but are not limited to: sensor technology, emergency preparedness and response, changing workforce, and management and analysis of "big" data.
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