Sensory Experiments and Indices for Evaluation of Wind/Snow Shelter in Fishing Port during Winter Season

Working environments at fishery ports and harbors during the winter in cold, windy regions are very severe for workers. Such environments may affect the worker's health, as well as lowering the work efficiency. To examine the necessity of facilities such as the wind and snow shelters, we should quantitatively evaluate in terms of human sensation. We conducted sensory experiments on subjects to examine the practical application of some thermal indices and “work efficiency” under the cold condition. There were no differences between sexes regarding the thermal responses. Of five thermal indices studied in this report, the WCI was the most useful index from a practical point of view. We also clarified influences of thermal environment and elapsed time (exposure time) on the work efficiency.