Evaluation of Thermal Comfort Conditions in the Working Environments of Seasonal Agricultural Workers in Csa Koppen Climate Type

This study focuses on determining the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers during the hot periods of the year when agricultural production is intense in the Aksu/Türkiye region, which is characterized by the Csa climate type according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification. In this study, the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers working on open farmlands were evaluated in ten-day, monthly, and seasonal periods for 6 months between 5:00 and 21:00 h using the modified Physiological Equivalent Temperature (mPET) index in the Rayman Pro software according to their activity energy during work. The results of the study reveal that increased activity energy leads to a decrease in thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers, mPET values of agricultural workers engaged in soil cultivation (Group II) are 2.1 to 2.9 °C higher than the mPET values of workers engaged in plant care and harvesting (Group I), and the agricultural workers in Group II are exposed to more heat stress. The thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers in Group I deteriorate between 09:00 and 16:00 h with mPET values between 34.1 and 35.3 °C and those of agricultural workers in Group II deteriorate between 08:00 and 17:00 h with mPET values between 34.3 and 37.7 °C. In this context, the daily comfortable working time in the morning and afternoon was found to be 9 h for Group I and 7 h for Group II. Overall, determining the comfortable working hours of agricultural workers in regions with different climate types in future studies will be an important resource for decision-makers in developing strategies to protect the health and increase the productivity of agricultural workers.