Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy

Daniele Grifoni; Alessandro Messeri; Alfonso Crisci; Michela Bonafede; Francesco Pasi; Bernardo Gozzini; Simone Orlandini; Alessandro Marinaccio; Riccardo Mari; Marco Morabito

doi:10.3390/ijerph18189940

journal article Open Access Sep 21, 2021

Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy

Daniele Grifoni

Alessandro Messeri

Alfonso Crisci Michela Bonafede

Francesco Pasi Bernardo Gozzini

Simone Orlandini

Alessandro Marinaccio

Riccardo Mari

Marco Morabito

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 18 No. 18 pp. 9940 · MDPI AG

View at Publisher Save 10.3390/ijerph18189940

Abstract

Outdoor workers are particularly exposed to climate conditions, and in particular, the increase of environmental temperature directly affects their health and productivity. For these reasons, in recent years, heat-health warning systems have been developed for workers generally using heat stress indicators obtained by the combination of meteorological parameters to describe the thermal stress induced by the outdoor environment on the human body. There are several studies on the verification of the parameters predicted by meteorological models, but very few relating to the validation of heat stress indicators. This study aims to verify the performance of two limited area models, with different spatial resolution, potentially applicable in the occupational heat health warning system developed within the WORKLIMATE project for the Italian territory. A comparison between the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature predicted by the models and that obtained by data from 28 weather stations was carried out over about three summer seasons in different daily time slots, using the most common skill of performance. The two meteorological models were overall comparable for much of the Italian explored territory, while major limits have emerged in areas with complex topography. This study demonstrated the applicability of limited area models in occupational heat health warning systems.

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Details

Published: Sep 21, 2021
Vol/Issue: 18(18)
Pages: 9940
License: View

Authors

D

Daniele Grifoni

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Tuscany Region, LaMMA Consortium, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

A

Alessandro Messeri

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Centre of Bioclimatology—University of Florence (UNIFI), 50100 Florence, Italy

A

Alfonso Crisci

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

M

Michela Bonafede

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene Department, Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00078 Rome, Italy

F

Francesco Pasi

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Tuscany Region, LaMMA Consortium, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

B

Bernardo Gozzini

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Tuscany Region, LaMMA Consortium, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

S

Simone Orlandini

Centre of Bioclimatology—University of Florence (UNIFI), 50100 Florence, Italy; Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Florence, Italy

A

Alessandro Marinaccio

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene Department, Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00078 Rome, Italy

R

Riccardo Mari

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Tuscany Region, LaMMA Consortium, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

M

Marco Morabito

Institute of Bioeconomy—National Research Council (IBE-CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Centre of Bioclimatology—University of Florence (UNIFI), 50100 Florence, Italy

Funding

BRIC-INAIL 2019- WORKLIMATE Project Award: B14I19003320005

Cite This Article

Daniele Grifoni, Alessandro Messeri, Alfonso Crisci, et al. (2021). Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18), 9940. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189940

Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy

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