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METHODS article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1477186
This article is part of the Research Topic The Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Public Health View all 5 articles

Effectiveness of heat stress interventions among outdoor workers: A Protocol Paper

Provisionally accepted
Sajeeth Kumar Sajeeth Kumar 1Vidhya Venugopal Vidhya Venugopal 1*P Vijayalakshmi P Vijayalakshmi 1S Krishnan S Krishnan 2S Rekha S Rekha 1Latha Pk Latha Pk 1
  • 1 Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, India
  • 2 All india institute of medical sciences, Guwahati, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Heavy work in scorching temperatures can cause dehydration and heat stress, which can lead to a number of heat-related diseases (HRIs). Heavy work in intense heat without rest or hydration is the main cause. The "Water, Rest, Shade" (WRS) intervention program for outdoor workers in hot weather reduces heat stress.Methods: This study follows a quasi-experimental design involving 250 outdoor workers from both agriculture and brick kilns. To assess the environmental heat exposure levels, Quest Temp 3M WBGT Monitor will be used. Tympanic temperature, Heart rate (HR), Sweat rate (SwR), and Urine specific gravity (USG) to assess the physiological responses to heat exposure using standard protocols. Blood samples will be collected to measure serum creatinine and calculate Glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and urine samples to measure pH, leucocytes, proteinuria, and hematuria. Then administer a validated and modified HOTHAPS questionnaire to capture the perception data. After the baseline assessments, Categorize the workers into two groups based on the selection criteria and the participants' willingness. Then provide a week-long WRS intervention to the intervention group (IG).The non-intervention group will collect the same data without any intervention to assess the efficacy of the intervention by comparing both groups and measuring outcome indicators.The study will generate much-needed information to raise awareness of the importance of heat stress prevention for outdoor workers.This study will demonstrate the effectiveness of an intervention, provide much-needed strategies for reducing heat stress, assess both health impacts and implementation quality, and design comprehensive workplace and labor laws aim to minimise risks to millions of unorganised outdoor workers health.

    Keywords: Heat stress, intervention, Outdoor workers, Physiological heat strain, WRS

    Received: 07 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kumar, Venugopal, Vijayalakshmi, Krishnan, Rekha and Pk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Vidhya Venugopal, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.