Comprehension of climatic and occupational heat stress amongst agricultural advisers and workers in Slovenia
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Comprehension of climatic and occupational heat stress amongst agricultural advisers and workers in Slovenia. / Pogačar, Tjaša; Črepinšek, Zalika; Kajfež Bogataj, Lučka; Nybo, Lars.
I: Acta Agriculturae Slovenica, Bind 109, Nr. 3, 2017, s. 545-554.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Comprehension of climatic and occupational heat stress amongst agricultural advisers and workers in Slovenia
AU - Pogačar, Tjaša
AU - Črepinšek, Zalika
AU - Kajfež Bogataj, Lučka
AU - Nybo, Lars
N1 - CURIS 2017 NEXS 377
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Climate changes and the associated higher frequency of heat waves in Middle-European countries will aggravate occupational heat stress experienced by Slovenian workers. Appropriate behavioral adaptations are important coping strategies and it is pertinent to establish if knowledge among advisers and workers is sufficient and identify the symptoms experienced by workers. Therefore a survey including 230 farmers and 86 agricultural advisers was completed. Thermal comfort ranged from hot to extremely hot for 85 ± 5 % of farmers working outside and heat stress had a negative impact on well-being (74 ± 6 %), productivity (68 ± 6 %) and concentration (34 ± 6 %). Reported symptoms were excessive sweating (84 ± 5 %), thirst (81 ± 5 %), and tiredness (59 ± 6 %). Women had a higher prevalence of headache (64 ± 10 %) compared to males (47 ± 8 %), higher frequency of fatigue (69 ± 10 vs 56 ± 8 %), and incidents with nausea or vomiting (19 ± 8 vs 9 ± 5 %). 81 ± 4 % of the responders reported that more time is required to complete tasks when the weather is hot. Nevertheless, 61 ± 6 % of farmers have never been informed of the impacts of heat stress and 29 ± 10 % of the agricultural advisers does not include this information in their guidance. This emphasizes the need for increased information and implementation of feasible solutions to mitigate the negative impact of heat stress on workers in the agricultural sector.
AB - Climate changes and the associated higher frequency of heat waves in Middle-European countries will aggravate occupational heat stress experienced by Slovenian workers. Appropriate behavioral adaptations are important coping strategies and it is pertinent to establish if knowledge among advisers and workers is sufficient and identify the symptoms experienced by workers. Therefore a survey including 230 farmers and 86 agricultural advisers was completed. Thermal comfort ranged from hot to extremely hot for 85 ± 5 % of farmers working outside and heat stress had a negative impact on well-being (74 ± 6 %), productivity (68 ± 6 %) and concentration (34 ± 6 %). Reported symptoms were excessive sweating (84 ± 5 %), thirst (81 ± 5 %), and tiredness (59 ± 6 %). Women had a higher prevalence of headache (64 ± 10 %) compared to males (47 ± 8 %), higher frequency of fatigue (69 ± 10 vs 56 ± 8 %), and incidents with nausea or vomiting (19 ± 8 vs 9 ± 5 %). 81 ± 4 % of the responders reported that more time is required to complete tasks when the weather is hot. Nevertheless, 61 ± 6 % of farmers have never been informed of the impacts of heat stress and 29 ± 10 % of the agricultural advisers does not include this information in their guidance. This emphasizes the need for increased information and implementation of feasible solutions to mitigate the negative impact of heat stress on workers in the agricultural sector.
KW - Agricultural advisers
KW - Farmers
KW - Health
KW - Heat stress
KW - Labor
KW - Well-being
U2 - 10.14720/aas.2017.109.3.06
DO - 10.14720/aas.2017.109.3.06
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85038869318
VL - 109
SP - 545
EP - 554
JO - Acta Agriculturae Slovenica
JF - Acta Agriculturae Slovenica
SN - 1581-9175
IS - 3
ER -
ID: 190438098