1. Hot and cold climates

1.1 General

Over the past forty years, knowledge of the effects of hot and cold environments on human health has progressed considerably. Among the various achievements, the development of reliable models for predicting on-call time based on the measurement of thermal stress represents an effective tool for prevention specialists, adapted to their day-to-day needs. However, certain specific work situations, such as highly heterogeneous radiant environments or very brief and sometimes repeated exposure to very severe thermal environments, do not lend themselves well to modelling. In such cases, physiological measurements remain indispensable.

The metrology of thermal environments and a presentation of the most useful indices are the subject of this section...