Tham K W
Department of Building, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Indoor Air. 2004;14 Suppl 7:119-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2004.00280.x.
A study was performed in a call center that provides billing inquiry services using a 2 x 2 balanced experimental plan for nine consecutive weeks. Two independent variables, temperature and outdoor air supply rate, were combined and introduced to the occupants in a blind intervention approach. The temperature set-points were fixed at 22.5 degrees C and 24.5 degrees C, and outdoor air supply rate at 5 l /s/p and 10 l/s/p. Temperature and outdoor air supply rate had significant interaction effects on worker's talk time (P < 0.001), which means that the effects of temperature on talk time performance were not independent of the effects of outdoor air supply rate or the opposite. Talk time was reduced significantly when the outdoor air supply rate was increased from 5 l /s/p to 10 l/s/p at 24.5 degrees C (P < 0.01); this may be associated with the significant reduction in a principal component factor which includes intensity of dryness, aching eyes and nose-related symptoms (P < 0.01). Decreasing the temperature from 24.5 degrees C to 22.5 degrees C at 10 l /s/p significantly increased talk time (P < 0.01). Analysis of the principal component factor based on the neurobehavioral symptoms also revealed that temperature reduction led to an increased mean factor score of these symptoms (P < 0.04).
For moderately complex office work which involves manipulation dexterity such as a call center operation where call operators interact with computer-based information systems, tropically acclimatized workers' performance could be improved by increasing the outdoor air supply rate from 5 l/s/p to 10 l/s/p if the temperature is to be maintained at the higher band of the thermal comfort range, around 24.5 degrees C. At a low ventilation rate (5 l/s/p), decreasing the temperature from 24.5 degrees C to 22.5 degrees C (which is a commonly adopted set-point in tropical office buildings) also leads to improvement of talk time performance. The magnitude of talk time improvement was greater by more than four times when the strategy to increase the outdoor air supply rate was implemented at a lower range of outdoor air supply rate (5-10 l /s/p) as compared to the higher range (9.8-22.7 l/s/p).
在一个提供计费查询服务的呼叫中心进行了一项研究，该研究采用2×2平衡实验方案，持续九周。将温度和室外空气供应率这两个自变量进行组合，并以盲法干预的方式引入给工作人员。温度设定点固定为22.5摄氏度和24.5摄氏度，室外空气供应率为5升/秒/人及10升/秒/人。温度和室外空气供应率对工作人员的通话时间有显著的交互作用（P<0.001），这意味着温度对通话时间表现的影响并非独立于室外空气供应率的影响，反之亦然。当在24.5摄氏度时将室外空气供应率从5升/秒/人提高到10升/秒/人，通话时间显著减少（P<0.01）；这可能与一个主要成分因素的显著降低有关，该因素包括干燥强度、眼睛酸痛和与鼻子相关的症状（P<0.01）。在10升/秒/人的情况下将温度从24.5摄氏度降至22.5摄氏度，通话时间显著增加（P<0.01）。基于神经行为症状对主要成分因素的分析还表明，温度降低导致这些症状的平均因素得分增加（P<0.04）。
对于涉及操作灵活性的中等复杂办公室工作，如呼叫中心运营（呼叫操作员与基于计算机的信息系统进行交互），如果要将温度维持在热舒适范围的较高区间（约24.5摄氏度），将室外空气供应率从5升/秒/人提高到10升/秒/人，可提高适应热带环境的工作人员的表现。在低通风率（5升/秒/人）时，将温度从24.5摄氏度降至22.5摄氏度（这是热带办公楼常用的设定点）也会使通话时间表现得到改善。与较高范围（9.8 - 22.7升/秒/人）相比，在较低的室外空气供应率范围（5 - 10升/秒/人）实施增加室外空气供应率的策略时，通话时间改善的幅度要大四倍以上。
