Thermal comfort evaluation in workplaces in Brazil: the case of furniture industry

SUMMARY Then main objective of this work is to create subsidies for an analysis of Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) from ISO 7730 (1994) and from the new version of the norm, from 2005, for thermal comfort evaluation in Brazilian workplaces. The furniture industry in the city of Itatiba, Sao Paulo State, in Brazil, was chosen for the study. A survey among the workers was carried out through questionnaires, collecting data about thermal sensation, clothing and worker’s activities. Dry and wet bulb temperatures, as well as globe temperatures were measured, simultaneously to the questionnaires. The Software Conforto 2.03 was used to estimate thermal resistance of the clothes, metabolic rates, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and the correspondent PMV for the set of environmental and personal variables. The declared votes were compared with those obtained by calculating the PMV. The obtained results were compared to the patterns specified by the standards ISO 7730, 1994 and only 4,3% of the answers are in the limits of PMV recommended for thermal comfort. An analysis is performed about the work conditions in this industry, considering the workplace conditions, especially the poor ventilation.