| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 20
| Issue : 2 | Page : 73-78 |
Research in occupational heat stress in India: Challenges and opportunities
Krishnan Srinivasan1, KN Maruthy2, Vidhya Venugopal3, Padmavathi Ramaswamy1
1 Department of Physiology, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Department of Physiology, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India
3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Correspondence Address:
Krishnan Srinivasan
Department of Physiology, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai - 600 116, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5278.197522
Occupational heat stress is a major health burden with several potential negative health and well-being outcomes. It is only in the recent years medical research has addressed this risk factor. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of studies in the area of occupational heat stress and its health impacts. Research in occupational heat stress in developing countries like India is limited because of several challenges and constraints. Few challenges are permission from industries to publish the data, resistance for change from employers and workers, improper record of heat/any occupational disease by the employer or worker, study design, and paucity in number of studies. Proper education and guidelines can help to overcome some of the constraints. Proper and correct guidelines will help in mitigating the effects of excessive heat exposure on the health of workers. The studies in this area are limited, and the association between occupational heat exposure and health impacts is not clearly established. Hence, carefully designed studies are required to examine this association and thereby provide valuable information to protect worker's health.
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