Actual Usage of Air-conditioned Wear in Building Facilities Construction Sites

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate on the actual usage of air-conditioned wears by conducting a questionnaire survey on 286 subjects working in major cities for Company A. The study focused on investigation conditions for the actual usage of air-conditioned wears. the effect of use, and the difference in subjective symptoms after using air-conditioned wears. Moreover, the extent to which air-conditioned wears were used for heat stroke prevention measures was summarized. The results of this study are as follows. (1) From the viewpoint of the effect of using air-conditioned wears and practicality in the field, 46.3% of the respondents answered for "satisfied with the air volume". In contrast, 30.3% of the respondents chose "dissatisfied with the air volume", which was a non-negligible ratio. (2) Regarding the continuous use time of air-conditioned wears, majority (57.6%) of the respondents requested improvement At least, many people found it complicated, considered that it is necessary to charge the battery almost every day. (3) Regarding the improvement of the physical condition by using air-conditioned wears, the most frequently answered item was "whole body is dull", which was opted by 68 people, 23.8% of all respondents. Moreover, many answers contained terms such as "blurred head" and "distracted". The results suggest that these improvements in "concentration" are directly linked to workability and safety. Moreover, it can be seen that the improvement in the physical condition by the penetration of air-conditioned wears leads to ensuring the safety of workers. In addition, improving "not being enthusiastic about things" may lead to increased aspirations of workers.　(4) In addition the points that should be considered for improvement of these air-conditioned wear product include not being able to exert sufficient effects depending on the work environment having to use a battery and prevention heatstroke by using air-conditioned wears. It was shown that the effects of "improvement of concentration" and "improvement of psychology" can be obtained. This study would promote the use of air-conditioned wears by proactively disseminating these effective aspects, which will lead to further improvement of the working environment and ensuring safety. (5) In terms of the percentage of work environments in which air-conditioned wears cannot be used, the most commonly chosen answer was the dust generation working environment. Such working environments are considered to correspond to that in a narrow space such as ceilings and are a characteristic of building facility construction they have the work environmental conditions involves high temperature and humidity. As a countermeasure, such environments utilize an ice pack type, which has the characteristic of maintaining a cooling effect for a long time, in combination with air-conditioned wears by a fan. If there is a choice in this method according to the working environment, it will lead to a great improvement in the environment. (6) There is no practical investigation study on the actual usage of large-scale air-conditioned wears for workers at building equipment construction sites. The results obtained herein will be academically meaningful for the future utilization of air-conditioned wears. The physical condition and psychological improvements by using air-conditioned wears directly lead to the reduction of risks associated with safety and quality. If the subjective symptoms of each individual are grasped in advance and the risk of the working environment is evaluated according to the subjective symptoms, the use of air-conditioned wears may more effectively reduce safety risk.