Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Centre for Languages and Liberal Studies, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Western Region, Ghana.
Int J Biometeorol. 2021 Dec;65(12):2059-2075. doi: 10.1007/s00484-021-02164-3. Epub 2021 Jun 29.
Many occupational settings located outdoors in direct sun, such as open cut mining, pose a health, safety, and productivity risk to workers because of their increased exposure to heat. This issue is exacerbated by climate change effects, the physical nature of the work, the requirement to work extended shifts and the need to wear protective clothing which restricts evaporative cooling. Though Ghana has a rapidly expanding mining sector with a large workforce, there appears to be no study that has assessed the magnitude and risk of heat exposure on mining workers and its potential impact on this workforce. Questionnaires and temperature data loggers were used to assess the risk and extent of heat exposure in the working and living environments of Ghanaian miners. The variation in heat exposure risk factors across workers' gender, education level, workload, work hours, physical work exertion and proximity to heat sources is significant (p<0.05). Mining workers are vulnerable to the hazards of heat exposure which can endanger their health and safety, productive capacity, social well-being, adaptive capacity and resilience. An evaluation of indoor and outdoor Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) in the working and living environment showed that mining workers can be exposed to relatively high thermal load, thus raising their heat stress risk. Adequate adaptation policies and heat exposure management for workers are imperative to reduce heat stress risk, and improve productive capacity and the social health of mining workers.
许多位于户外直接阳光下的职业环境，如露天采矿，由于工人暴露在更多的热量下，对工人的健康、安全和生产力构成了风险。气候变化的影响、工作的物理性质、延长轮班工作的要求以及需要穿着限制蒸发冷却的防护服，使这一问题更加严重。尽管加纳的采矿业迅速扩张，劳动力众多，但似乎没有研究评估采矿业工人的热暴露程度和风险及其对这一劳动力的潜在影响。本研究使用问卷和温度数据记录器评估了加纳矿工的工作和生活环境中的热暴露风险和程度。热暴露风险因素在工人的性别、教育水平、工作量、工作时间、体力劳动和热源接近程度方面存在显著差异（p<0.05）。采矿工人容易受到热暴露危害的影响，这可能危及他们的健康和安全、生产能力、社会福祉、适应能力和恢复能力。对工作和生活环境中的室内和室外湿球黑球温度（WBGT）的评估表明，采矿工人可能会暴露在相对较高的热负荷下，从而增加他们的热应激风险。必须为工人制定充分的适应政策和热暴露管理措施，以降低热应激风险，提高采矿工人的生产能力和社会健康水平。
