Associations between heat exposure, vigilance, and balance performance in summer tree fruit harvesters

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Appl Ergon
• Personal Author:
  Spector, June T. ; Krenz, Jennifer ; Calkins, Miriam ; Ryan, Dawn ; Carmona, Jose ; Pan, Mengjie ; Zemke, Anna ; Sampson, Paul D.
• Description:
  Background ; We sought to evaluate potential mediators of the relationship between heat exposure and traumatic injuries in outdoor agricultural workers. ; Methods ; Linear mixed models were used to estimate associations between maximum work-shift Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGTmax) and post-shift vigilance (reaction time) and postural sway (total path length) in a cross-sectional sample of 46 Washington State tree fruit harvesters in August–September 2015. ; Results ; The mean (SD) WBGTmax was 27.4 (3.2)°C in August and 21.2 (2.0)°C in September. The mean pre-work-shift participant urine specific gravity indicated minimal dehydration. Twenty-four percent of participants exhibited possible excessive sleepiness. There was no association between WBGTmax and post-shift reaction time or total path length. ; Conclusions ; Heat exposure was not associated with impaired vigilance or balance in this study, in which the overall mean (SD) WBGTmax was 25.9 (4.2)°C. However, the study identified opportunities to ensure adequate pre-work-shift hydration and to optimize sleep and work-shift timing in order to reduce occupational injury and heat-related illness risk.
• Subjects:
  • Article
  • Adult
  • Agriculture
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Dehydration
  • Female
  • Fruit
  • Heat Stress Disorders
  • Hot Temperature
  • Humans
  More +
• Source:
  Appl Ergon. 67:1-8
• Pubmed ID:
  29122180
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5912891
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K01 OH010672/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; T42 OH008433/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  Washington
• Volume:
  67
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/53627/cdc_53627_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 107.25 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d874b7be5d2e1a451443e391a0aa2b56c3df91e66cd83f85ba8d3f97bf0d89a0