Collection Occupational hygiene, Issue 22, 1986 year

The influence of physical factors of the working environment on human performance

F. M. Shleifman, A. A. Menshov, A. A. Laschuk, V. V. Lipovoy

doi

Kiev Research Institute of Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Diseases

Full article (PDF)

Among the factors that are widespread in various industries and determine the formation of the level and nature of physiological reactions and human performance, microclimate and noise are important.

The results of studies by many authors indicate that with significant thermal stress of the body, physical performance and labor productivity decrease [2, 6-8]. So, according to NB Voronkov [3], the efficiency at 23 ° С decreased by 9%, at 26 ° С - by 19%, at 29 ° С - by 32%, at 32 ° С - by 44% and at the same time the pulse rate increased, profuse sweating was observed, and the skin temperature increased. According to the Institute of Biophysics M3 of the USSR, the rate of decrease in physical performance indicators at a temperature of 18-20 ° C is 2 times higher, at 28-32 ° C - 4-5 times, at 36-38 ° C - 6-7 times more than in experiments with an air temperature in the chamber of 10 ° C.

Physical performance increases as the heat load on the body decreases and reaches a maximum with moderate cooling. Performing work in high temperature conditions affects its quality, leading to a decrease in performance. The results of studies carried out by employees of the Kiev Research Institute of Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Diseases have shown that in the warm season at elevated air temperatures at the workplace, a decrease in muscle performance by 50-120% is recorded among TPP operators. Fatigue sets in earlier - at the 3-4th hour of work in such conditions. At the same time, the magnitude of changes in indicators is 30–100% greater than in conditions of thermal comfort [4].

The indicators of changes in working capacity were studied with an increase in the level of industrial noise [5]. The known methods were used to calculate the change in working capacity in noisy workshops at different sound levels. The workers of the machine shop, exposed to noise with a level of 90 dB A, had a working capacity of 72% compared to the initial value, for workers of the woodworking shop after exposure to noise with a level of 100 dB A - 64%, for workers of the forging shop, where the noise level reached 110 dB A, it was equal to 53%.

These data indicate that normalizing noise levels can be an effective way to maintain high human performance.

For work not associated with neuro-emotional stress, the permissible noise level is 85 dB A, with low-stress work - 80 dB A, with moderately strenuous work - 70 dB A, with strenuous work - 65 dB A and with very strenuous work - 55 dB A ...

Since with an increase in the sound level by 1 dB A in the range of 90 — PO dB A, the operability decreases by about 1%, it is possible to calculate the level of its increase with a corresponding decrease in the noise level.

References

  1. Andreyeva-Galanina Ye.Ts., Alekseyev S.V., Kadyskin A.V., Suvorov G.A., Shum i shumovaya bolezn'.-L.: Meditsina, 1972. – 303 s.
  2. Bagirov B. G. Occupational hygiene pri nefteturbovykh i stroitel'nykh rabotakh v usloviyakh zharkogo klimata. — Ashkhabad: Ylym, 1973. — 214 s.
  3. Voronkov N. B. Vliyaniye mikroklimata glubokikh shakht na funktsional'noye sostoyaniye i rabotosposobnost' gornorabochikh: Avtoref. dis. ... kand. med. nauk. — Donetsk, 1973.— 21 s.
  4. Kundiyev Yu. I., Navakatikyan A. O. Meropriyatiya po ozdorovleniyu usloviy truda mashinistov-operatorov teplovykh elektrostantsiy i ikh ekonomicheskaya effektivnost'. — Gigiyena i sanitariya, 1974, № 12, s. 36—40.
  5. Lipovoy V. V., Petrichenko A. A. Prognozirovaniye snizheniya rabotosposobnosti po dannym izucheniya slukha, nervnoy i serdechno-sosudistoy sistem u rabotayushchikh v shumnom proizvodstve. — V kn.: Tez. dokl. IV s"yezda otolaringologov USSR (L'vov, 12—14 okt. 1983 g.). L'vov: B. i., 1983, s. 18—19.
  6. Malysheva A. Ye., Medvedeva Ye. F. Funktsional'nyye sdvigi v organizme pri raznykh urovnyakh teplovogo vozdeystviya (proizvodstvennyye i eksperimental'nyye issledovaniya). — V kn.: Tr. In-ta gigiyeny truda i profzabolevaniy AMN SSSR. M.: B. i, 1970, s. 57—64.
  7. Reshetyuk A. L. Gigiyena i fiziologiya truda v glubokikh shakhtakh Donbassa: Avtoref. dis. ... d-ra med. nauk. — Donetsk, 1972. — 21 s.
  8. Simonovich T. D., Bluvshteyn E. Ye. Energoobmen stroiteley v pokoye i pri rabote v usloviyakh vysokikh temperatur. — Vopr. sanitarii i gigiyeny v Uzbekistane, 1972, vyp. 5, s. 65—70.
  9. Bartlett V. R., Roberts I. R. 80 dBA and it's effect on the performance of a mental task. — Aconst Lett, 1977, N 1, p. 25—27.
  10. Bell A. Noise an occupational hazard public nuisance. — Geneva, WHO, Chron, 1966, —30 p.
  11. Grivel F. Chaleur et travail human sans composante musculaire importante; II — La recherche d’effects spécifiques de la chaleur sur la performance psychometrice et mentale. — Trav. hum., 1975, 38, N 2, p. 223—243.
  12. Griffith J., Boyce P. Performance and thermal comfort. — Ergonomisc, 1974, 14, N 4, p. 457—468.
  13. Hellon R. Monoamines, Pyrogenes and cations: their action on central of body temperature. — Pharmacol. Rev., 1975, 26, N 4, p. 289—321.
  14. Klotzbücher E., Tichtel K. Der Einfluß des Lörms auf Leistung bei geistiger Arbeit und ausgewählte physiologische Functionen bei unterschiedliehen Kombinationen zvischen Lärm und dynamischer Muskelarbeit. — Int. Areh. Occup. and Enviren. Health, 1978, 41, N 4, S. 237—251.
  15. Pinter E. Metabolie and endocrine changes in aerobatic fligth. — Aerospace Med., 1974, 45, N 10, p. 1159—1163.