Title: Model to assess economic impact of hot environments on productivity

Authors: António Oliveira Sousa; João Santos Baptista

Addresses: Research Laboratory on Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Risks (LABIOMEP/CIGAR), School of Engineering, University of Algarve, Campus da Penha, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal ' Research Laboratory on Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Risks (LABIOMEP/CIGAR), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Abstract: In sectors as mining, smelting or food production, workers are constantly subjected to hot environmental conditions that affect them somehow. In this paper, a quantitative model that aims at relating the effects of such environments on labour productivity is presented. Simultaneously, the proposed model allows the evaluation of the economic balance between the loss of productivity and the energy consumption of the installed cooling systems. This allows to obtain an optimal solution for industrial plants operation.

Keywords: productivity; energy consumption; optimisation modelling; thermal environment; economic impact; hot environments; cooling systems; industrial plants.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2013.059448

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2013 Vol.16 No.5/6, pp.480 - 494

Received: 07 Aug 2013
Accepted: 03 Sep 2013
Published online: 17 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article