COURSE OVERVIEW

This course aims to provide candidates with a sound understanding of the effects of the thermal environment on people, and the means of assessing and controlling the risks associated with thermal stress.
On completing this course successfully, participants will be able to:-
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Identify sources of thermal stress within the working environment
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Understand the nature of thermal strain on the body
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Make an assessment of the thermal environment through appropriate measurement and other means
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Evaluate the possible risks from exposure to thermal stress
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Suggest appropriate control approaches for the thermal environment
This course is designed to provide participants with a detailed and up-to-date overview of BOHS-M502: Thermal Environment. It covers the thermal spectrum covering extreme temperatures and moderate temperatures; the principles of heat stress, heat strain, homeostasis and thermal regulation including feedback and control mechanisms; assessing physiological responses to hot environment and cold environments; the heat production and heat exchanges with the surroundings and heat balance equation; the metabolic heat production and efficiency, sensible heat exchanges, latent heat loss and acclimatisation; the effects of excessive heat strain covering hot and cold environments; and the predisposing factors.
During this interactive course, participants will learn the thermal comfort, scales for subjective evaluation of comfort, actual ideal indoor environments and the work of fanger; evaluating hot environments covering heat stress indices and effect of heat stress, effective and corrective effective temperatures, heat stress index, required sweat rate (PHS) and WBGT; the control of hot environments comprising of personal factors mitigating against ‘hot’ work, simple introduction to control by engineering and organisational measures and hot surface; the thermal survey, assessing the degree of risk and evaluating cold environments and control of cold environments; the various approaches to risk assessment covering AIOH tiered approach, SA DoMR code of practice for an occupational health programme on thermal stress and ACGIH thermal stress TLVs; and the difference between quantitative and qualitative approaches and physiological assessments.
This course will require at least 45 hours of study time, of which at least 37 hours will be taught (teaching and practical assessments) and 8 hours will be independent (in the candidates’ own time).