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to an impairment of manuał performance ca pa ci ty, especially when tliey do not £it well.

In all thrce phases of the study, the subjects were able lo assess temperaturę changes in peripheral parts of the body well. Even relativelv slight changcs in the temperaturę of the skin of the hands were detected by most of the subjects. The skin temperaturę al one śTIe on the periphery was used throughout as the ob-jective measure with which subjective assessments were compared. However, this temperaturę may vary considerably at different sites on the hand. It can also shift in different directions at different sites, as was noted in many butchers dur-ing breaks. It is apparent that the percep-tion of hand temperaturę reflected a rela-tively complex process.

In most subjects, the perception of temperaturę could vary considerably without any discomfort being reported. On the other hand, the variations in temperaturę perception provided information on devia-tions from the optimum comfort rangę for each individual. These deviations were to be found in the peripheral parts of the body for almost all the subjects. As a rule, discomfort from cold hands was experi-enced at temperatures at which previous studies also recorded a decline in manuał performance ćapaćlty (4). When Yhere was pronounced discomfort because of cold hands, tfie Kahd lempgrature of sgyęral subjects approached the pain threshold, i.e., around +^rIU°u (b).    ^:

The wide individual variation in re-sponse patterns underlines the difficulties in assessing the effect of cold on the indi-vidual merely on the basis of cliraatic mea-surements. An assessment of this kind must be supplemented with biological measurements to a greater extent. Therę is currently no relevant climatic index which can be used to assess the physio-logical effect on man In moderately cold environments.

To summarize, the climate-related physiological problems associated with work in the cold mainly involve the cooling of peripheral parts of the body, the hands in particular. Unsatisfactory design of work clothing, especially with respect to insulation and yentilation prop-erties, is another problem. In both these

respects, basie and applied efforts are needed to provide information on the measures required to reduce or eliminate the unfavoęable effect of cold climate in the work environmenL

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors should like to convey their warm thanks to everyone who helped carry out the study, especially to the participating staff from the work sites, the occupational health centers at the ARLA Dairies in Bromma and Enskede and Samfod's meat-cutting and -packaging department in Johanneshov.

The study was part of a project with the objective of studying the effect of work in a cold climate on man. The project has been supported by grants from the Swedish Work Environment Fund (74/176).

REFERENCES

1.    BURTON, A. C. and EDHOLM. O. G. Man

in a cold enmronment. Edward Arnold 1 Publications, Ltd., London 1955. 273 p.

2.    CARLSON, L. D. and HSIEH, A. C. Cold.

In: O. G. EDHOLM and A. L BACHA-RACH (eds.), The physiology of human jur-tńoal. Academic Press, London 1965, pp. 15—51. '

3.    FANGEJR, P. O. Thermal comfort. Danlsh Technical Press, Copenhagen 1970.

4.    FOX. W. Human performance in the cold.

Kum. factors 9 (1967) 3 : 203—220.

5.    HELLSTROM, B. Local ef/ects of accli-motization to cold in man. Universitets-(orlaget, Oslo 1965. 156 p.

6.    HOLMER. L, NORDSTROM, A., KIND-BLOM, A.-S. and SKOLDSTROM, B. At-bete i fcyta. Arbetsfysiologisk studie vid tod mcjeńer (Undersdkningsrapport AMA 015/75). Arbetarskyddsstyrelsen, Stockholm 1975.

7.    KINDBLOM, A.-S., NORDSTROM, A., HOLMER, L and SKOLDSTROM, B. Ar-bece i kyla. Arbetsfysiologisk studie vid en finstycknings- och paketerinpsaydelninp lnom slakteribranschen (Undersoknings-rapport AMA 005/76). Arbetarskyddsstyrcl-sen, Stockholm 1976.

8.    LINDHOLM, A. Arbete i kytda lokaler (Rapport A-142.69). Arbetsmedicinska insti-tutet, Stockholm 1969.

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