Despite the known human health risks associated with excessive heat exposure, particularly in occupational settings, data describing potential heat exposures in school kitchens is scarce, and no published studies to date have performed a quantitative heat exposure assessment for workers employed in this setting. The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent of heat stress in New York City public school kitchens and to assess potential risk of heat-related illness and/or acute injury. Full-shift indoor Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) indices, as well as indoor CO₂ and CO concentrations were measured for ten school kitchens. A quantitative exposure assessment for three metabolic work-rate scenarios (light, moderate, heavy) was performed in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Heat Hazard Assessment methodology. The overall mean indoor WBGT index for all ten sites was approximately 25.0 °C (77.0 °F; Standard Deviation [SD] = 2.0 °C). Regarding the estimated Action Limit, 10% of school kitchens sampled exceeded this recommended limit for the light work-rate scenario; 60% of schools exceeded this limit for the moderate work-rate scenario; and 80% of schools exceeded this limit for the heavy work-rate scenario. For the Threshold Limit Value (TLV), none of the kitchens exceeded this limit for the light or moderate work-rate scenarios; 30% of kitchens were in excess of this limit for the heavy work-rate scenario. Mean full-shift CO₂ and CO air concentrations ranged from 435–911 ppm (mean = 648; SD = 158) and 0.0–3.2 ppm (mean = 0.9; SD = 0.9), respectively. The data collected in the current study suggest that kitchen staff employed in New York City public schools may be exposed to excessive indoor heat levels. Adequate work-rest schedules should be implemented for kitchen workers, in addition to other feasible engineering and administrative controls to mitigate potential risk of heat-related illness and/or acute injury.

尽管已知与过度热暴露相关的人类健康风险，尤其是在职业环境中，但描述学校厨房潜在热暴露的数据却很少，迄今为止，尚未有公开的研究对在此环境中工作的工人进行定量的热暴露评估。这项研究的目的是量化纽约市公立学校厨房中的热应激程度，并评估与热相关的疾病和/或急性伤害的潜在风险。全班室内湿球温度（WBGT）指数以及室内CO ₂测量了十个学校厨房的CO和CO浓度。根据职业安全与健康管理局（OSHA）的热危害评估方法，对三种代谢工作率情景（轻，中，重）进行了定量暴露评估。所有十个站点的整体室内平均WBGT指数约为25.0°C（77.0°F；标准偏差[SD] = 2.0°C）。关于估计的行动极限，在轻工率情况下，抽样的学校厨房中有10％超出了建议的极限；在中等工作率的情况下，有60％的学校超出了此限制；80％的学校在繁重的工作率情况下超出了此限制。对于阈值限制值（TLV），对于轻度或中等工作率情况，没有一个厨房超过此限制。对于繁重的工作率情况，有30％的厨房超出了此限制。平均全班CO₂和CO空气浓度分别为435-911 ppm（平均值= 648； SD = 158）和0.0-3.2 ppm（平均值= 0.9； SD = 0.9）。当前研究中收集的数据表明，纽约市公立学校雇用的厨房工作人员可能会暴露在室内过热的环境中。除了其他可行的工程和行政控制措施之外，还应为厨房工人制定适当的休息时间表，以减轻与热相关的疾病和/或急性伤害的潜在风险。