AVALIAÇÃO DA EXPOSIÇÃO OCUPACIONAL AO CALOR EXEPERIMENTADA POR OPERADORES DE CALDEIRAS A LENHA

There are several environmental hazards that can affect a worker in his or her working environment, including heat. This physical agent can cause many adverse effects in the body such as: dehydration, cramps, edema, heat shock, exhaustion, and heat stroke.In this paper, a quantitative evaluation of occupational exposure to heat was carried out using a wood-fired boiler operator working in the food industry located in Colatina/ES. The methodology used to characterize the heat exposure was that defined by Annex 3 of Regulatory Standard nº 15 of the Brazilian Labor Ministry, while the procedures used to carry out the measurements were those suggested by the Occupational Hygiene Standard nº 6 of Fundacentro. The results showed that the boiler operation activityexposes the worker to a thermal load above the tolerance limits established by the Labor Ministry. Finally, control measures were proposed according to the hierarchy established by this government agency.