The Effect of Clothing on Thermal Stress of Workers in Confined Spaces

One of the risks of working in a confined space is hot working environment. There are several conditions caused by a hot working environment, one of them is heat stress. Based on theory, one of the factors that influence heat stress is clothing. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of clothing on heat stress complaints of workers in confined spaces. This research method is an analytical observation with a cross-sectional approach. The population of this study is all workers in the confined space of PT. X. From the results of the work environment measurements in five confined spaces, it is known that the working environment in the boiler, electrostatic precipitator, CASOX, and final absorbent tower is above Threshold Limit Value, 144 workers (80%) work at temperatures above the Threshold Limit Value. The working environment in the gas cooler is below the Threshold Limit Value, 35 workers (20%) work at temperatures below the Threshold Limit Value. There were 9 workers (5%) who experienced minor heat stress complaints in the confined space, 114 workers (63.3%) had moderate heat stress complaints, and 57 workers (31.7%) had serious heat stress complaints. The results of statistical tests using linear regression show that heat stress complaints are influenced by metabolic rate, length of work, clothing, and hot work climate. The recommendation to workers that working in confined spaces is do not wear double layers of clothing. The company should establish different temperature thresholds for each confined space.