Viability of the use of infrared thermography in the assessment of heat stress in industrial welders

The aim of this article is to determine the feasibility of the use of infrared thermography in the diagnosis of heat stress in industrial welders. It is a non-experimental, transverse, correlational study. Data were collected from 12 welders (men) from the Colombian metalworking and construction sector. Their internal body temperature was measured with a personal thermal stress monitor (tympanic temperature, °C) and 456 thermographic records(external temperature,°C) of 6 quadrants of the back were made, and the maximum temperature in each of the quadrants was determined. The Pearson statistical test was applied to determine the correlation between the values of the internal temperature and the maximum temperatures in each of the quadrants of the thermogram. A linear regression was also applied to establish a prediction model of the internal temperature from the temperatures of the quadrants of the back. The resulting thermograms of quadrant 3 would predict the internal temperature of the welder monitored in 51% of cases. In conclusion, it was found out that infrared thermography is an effective method for the prediction of thermal stress by heat in welders and is valid for the evaluation of occupational exposure.