Excessive exposure to heat can lead to injuries, illness, and death among mineworkers. The actual cost of heat-related injuries and illnesses is unknown because of underreporting and lack of symptom recognition. Multi-factorial, evidence-based, and field-ready guidelines for identifying–and predicting–physiological markers of heat strain are currently unavailable. The predicted heat strain (PHS) model, is the latest attempt by mining companies to aid in the evaluation and management of occupational heat exposures. The adopted algorithm relies on worksite environmental measurements and an estimate of individual metabolic rate for mine workers to provide an estimate of the workers’ core temperature during a work shift. There are several known limitations of the PHS model, including the assumption that the subject worker is hydrated and fit. A modified PHS model was presented based on eight physical parameters that are measured at different intervals during a work shift; these parameters are air temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, radiation, metabolic rate, acclimatization, clothing insulation and posture. To validate the results, the predictions from the modified PHS model were compared with direct physiological measurements obtained from ingestible pills and heat stress monitors under different environmental and working conditions.

过度暴露在热中可能导致矿工受伤，患病甚至死亡。由于漏报和缺乏症状识别，与热相关的伤害和疾病的实际成本尚不清楚。目前尚无用于识别和预测热应变生理指标的多因素，循证和现场准备的指南。预测的热应变（PHS）模型是采矿公司为帮助评估和管理职业性热暴露而进行的最新尝试。所采用的算法依靠工地环境测量和矿山工人的个体新陈代谢速率的估计值来提供工人在轮班期间的核心温度的估计值。PHS模型有几个已知的局限性，包括假设目标工作人员身体水分充足且健康。基于八个物理参数，提出了一种改进的PHS模型，该参数是在轮班期间以不同间隔测量的；这些参数是空气温度，相对湿度，空气速度，辐射，代谢率，适应性，衣服隔热和姿势。为了验证结果，将修改后的PHS模型的预测与从可摄取药丸和热应激监测仪在不同环境和工作条件下获得的直接生理测量值进行比较。