Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica

Concern for inadequate exposure to physical factors in the working environment began in the mid 20th. Century. The subject has been widely studied in industrial nations, but in Central America there are few published studies, so we measured two environmental factors in a university press workshop in Costa Rica, from April 05 to 16, 2010, a period in which production is high. With a calibrated Extech HD450 light meter we did at least three measurements of light along the workday (considering changes in natural lighting). We selected the measurement points where certain illumination is needed for proper operation of industrial machinery. We also made 20 real-time measurements of noise with a certified Extech sound meter, in the offset press room, where there is noisy industrial machinery. We found inadequate noise and lighting levels, and concluded that staff are exposed to inappropriate health conditions, so we recommend the relocation of lamps and periodical audiometric tests.

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Main Authors: Arce Espinoza, Lourdes, Mónge-Najera, Julián
Format: Digital revista
Language:spa
Published: Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica 2011
Online Access:https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/207
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spelling oai:revistas.investiga.uned.ac.cr:article2072022-09-02T02:22:46Z Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica Arce Espinoza, Lourdes Mónge-Najera, Julián Working environment physical agents university printing workshop. Ambiente laboral agentes físicos imprenta universitaria. Concern for inadequate exposure to physical factors in the working environment began in the mid 20th. Century. The subject has been widely studied in industrial nations, but in Central America there are few published studies, so we measured two environmental factors in a university press workshop in Costa Rica, from April 05 to 16, 2010, a period in which production is high. With a calibrated Extech HD450 light meter we did at least three measurements of light along the workday (considering changes in natural lighting). We selected the measurement points where certain illumination is needed for proper operation of industrial machinery. We also made 20 real-time measurements of noise with a certified Extech sound meter, in the offset press room, where there is noisy industrial machinery. We found inadequate noise and lighting levels, and concluded that staff are exposed to inappropriate health conditions, so we recommend the relocation of lamps and periodical audiometric tests. Desde hace más de dos milenios se sabe que las condiciones laborales afectan la salud, pero fue hasta mediados del siglo XX que en el medio industrial surgió una preocupación por la exposición inadecuada a factores físicos. Aunque el tema ha sido muy estudiado en países industrializados, en América Central hay muy pocos estudios, por lo que medimos dos factores ambientales en una imprenta universitaria de Costa Rica, del 05 al 16 de abril del 2010, periodo en el cual la actividad es mayor. Hicimos al menos tres mediciones de iluminación lo largo del día laboral con el fin de contemplar los cambios en la iluminación natural, con un luxómetro Extech HD450 calibrado. Elegimos los puntos de medición donde se requieren ciertos niveles de luz para una operación adecuada de la maquinaria industrial. Además hicimos 20 mediciones de ruido en tiempo real en la prensa, que es el equipo más ruidoso, con un sonómetro certificado Extech. Hallamos exceso de ruido e iluminación deficiente, concluyendo que el personal está potencialmente expuesto a condiciones inadecuadas de salud, por lo que recomendamos reubicar las lámparas y hacer audiometrías periódicas. Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica 2011-06-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/207 10.22458/urj.v3i1.207 UNED Research Journal; Vol. 3 No. 1 (2011); 63-70 UNED Research Journal; Vol. 3 Núm. 1 (2011); 63-70 1659-441X 1659-4266 spa https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/207/85
institution UNED CR
collection OJS
country Costa Rica
countrycode CR
component Revista
access En linea
databasecode rev-cuadernos
tag revista
region America Central
libraryname Centro de Información, Documentación y Recursos Bibliográficos
language spa
format Digital
author Arce Espinoza, Lourdes
Mónge-Najera, Julián
spellingShingle Arce Espinoza, Lourdes
Mónge-Najera, Julián
Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
author_facet Arce Espinoza, Lourdes
Mónge-Najera, Julián
author_sort Arce Espinoza, Lourdes
title Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
title_short Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
title_full Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
title_fullStr Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed Environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in San José, Costa Rica
title_sort environmental noise and light in an university printing workshop in san josé, costa rica
description Concern for inadequate exposure to physical factors in the working environment began in the mid 20th. Century. The subject has been widely studied in industrial nations, but in Central America there are few published studies, so we measured two environmental factors in a university press workshop in Costa Rica, from April 05 to 16, 2010, a period in which production is high. With a calibrated Extech HD450 light meter we did at least three measurements of light along the workday (considering changes in natural lighting). We selected the measurement points where certain illumination is needed for proper operation of industrial machinery. We also made 20 real-time measurements of noise with a certified Extech sound meter, in the offset press room, where there is noisy industrial machinery. We found inadequate noise and lighting levels, and concluded that staff are exposed to inappropriate health conditions, so we recommend the relocation of lamps and periodical audiometric tests.
publisher Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica
publishDate 2011
url https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/207
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