The Effects of Heat Stress on Bakery Workers: A Systematic  Review

Parvaneh  Khazaei; Ali Salehi  Sahlabadi; Soleiman  Ramezanifar; Younes  Mehrifar; Elahe  Khadiv; Pedram  Rastegari; Noradin  Gharari

doi:10.18502/ijph.v52i12.14314

Parvaneh Khazaei Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Salehi Sahlabadi Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Soleiman Ramezanifar Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Younes Mehrifar Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Elahe Khadiv Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Pedram Rastegari Department of Health, Safety and Environmental, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Noradin Gharari Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v52i12.14314

Keywords: Baker; Exposure to heat; Heat stress; Heat index

Abstract

Background: Working in hot environments can cause diseases and reduce performance by upsetting the balance of physiological parameters of workers' bodies. Bakers are among the people exposed to heat stress continuously and daily. This review study aimed to investigate the effect of heat stress on bakers.

Methods: In this review study, the related articles based on keywords were reviewed using “IranMedex”, “Science Direct”, “PubMed”, “Scopus”, “Web of Science”, “SID”, “Google Scholar”, and “Magiran” databases from the years 2000 to 2021. The used search terms were "Heat stress", "Heat strain", "Heat exposure", "Heat waves", "Workplace", "Baker", and "health effects". In order to extract the required data, all parts of the articles have been reviewed.

Results: Out of the 16 studies reviewed in this study, 43.75% were cross-sectional, 25% were descriptive cross-sectional, and 31.25% were performed according to other study designs. In all of the studies, the WBGT index was used to assess ambient heat stress. In most studies, the mean exposure temperature was higher than the WBGT-ACGIH limit, especially among traditional bakery workers. The findings showed that exposure to thermal stress significantly affects some hematological parameters of blood, oxidative stress, heart rate, and body temperature.

Conclusion: The situation of heat stress in the bakery environment is worrying in terms of health and reduced productivity of employees. Therefore, it is essential to take the necessary preventive and control measures to reduce heat stress and the resulting strain.