Exploring Intervention Strategies to Prevent Occupational Heat Stress. A Scoping Review

Rising global temperatures threaten workers worldwide, especially in outdoor and indoor industries like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and mining. The current guidelines for reducing heat-related risks in these sectors lag behind those in sports and military settings. The objective of this study is to map applicable strategies across various sectors and summarize preventive strategies and methodologies. A scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews. PubMed and ScienceDirect were searched for articles on internal, external, and administrative interventions. In total, 5,280 articles published between January 2020 and March 2024 were initially identified. Following a meticulous screening process, 49 articles were selected for in-depth review in this study. Notably, a considerable proportion (56%) of these studies focused on external interventions. This review revealed that a multifaceted approach is necessary to enhance the decision-making process for effectively addressing heat stress, regardless of occupational settings. This approach encompasses considerations of environmental factors, individual physiological aspects, and cooling methods. The review also highlighted limitations in effective and practical heat stress prevention strategies across various industry sectors, including the absence of dietary guidelines.