Roghanchi reports that among the health hazards experienced in the field, exposure to excessive heat can significantly affect the safety, health and productivity of geologists, engineers, and field-support staff. Short-term, acute heat exposure causes a rise in the core temperature of the human body, which can result in a heat-related illness or a combination of heat-related illnesses. Adverse long-term, chronic heat exposure can generate serious occupational heat-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, mental-health problems and chronic kidney disease.. the latter of which often doesn't show up until late in life. High core-body temperature, coupled with dehydration, can also generate negative behavioral effects, such as physical fatigue, irritability, lethargy, impaired judgment, loss of dexterity and loss of concentration.
Heat is a hazard that is underestimated (and not realized) in most field operations. This is mainly because people are unaware of its effects due to the lack of education about heat and its salient consequences. Although most operations address heat exposure as a health hazard, there are several safety hazards also associated with heat exposure that have been neglected in safety and training programs. Assessment of the thermal environment is becoming more important due to the significant effects of excessive heat on the safety and health of miners.
There is a well-established mechanism that enables a human body to maintain thermal equilibrium when exposed to heat stresses. However, if the heat stress exceeds a certain level, this mechanism is no longer able to fully remove the metabolic heat. In situations when the human body is unable to effectively transfer heat to the ambient surroundings, the risk of heat-stress related illness and injury can drastically increase. The consequences of exposure to heat and humidity have an accumulative effect on the health and safety of mine workers. The longer workers are exposed to heat, the more their core-body temperature moves away from an acquired comfort level. In this state, heat storage in the body accumulates over time and the heat-stress level increases. This can make heat a silent and dangerous health hazard, as its effects often are not exposed until life threatening health conditions develop. The ability of the human body to adjust to changing climatic conditions is the cause of this imminent danger. [Management should be trained to recognize any of the early symptoms. A designated health & safety person should also be charged with the responsibility to visit the field staff regularly pushing bottled water, not unlike those entering a sideline huddle during a football game with a water bottle at the ready.]
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[Based on my personal experience, if you find yourself in the field (in the outback of Australia for example) and you observe that you are peeing an orange fluid, you must immediately begin to drink 32 fluid ozs. of water. This is a sign that you are critically dehydrated, even if you do not feel anything yet; you are damaging your kidneys. Then continue to drink water at regular intervals while you are in the field even after the urine color returns to a light yellow color. Also, while being dehydrated, you may also be losing potassium, so be sure to eat your daily banana, etc.]
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