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in during 2 h of rr * n the rlght).

c udied, the >Cw was a few » gloves were i interindi-n especially t nands. The łteeted hands l i and skin l the work contact with ' ♦''mperature /• c intensity T skin tem-•arts, such as v gencrally 1    • measure-

n ith pauses the hand and « for most

cutting even though cach individual used equivalent clothing in each of the two work sesisons. Most subjects felt somewhat warmer when cutting down than when rough cutting, even when the chest temperaturę was directly compa rabie. Rough cutting work was less activc, and most subjects sometimes felt cold.

Both inter- and intraindividual varia-tions in skin temperaturę were consider-able in peripheral parts of the body. In almost everv subiect. a change in tempera-ture was also accompanied by a corres-ponding change in perception. This rela-tionship was especially striking for the hands, as illustrated on the left in fig. 7. Finger temperaturę and the equivalent estimate paralleled one another very close-ly. The foot temperaturę varied less, as was also rcflected in the perception of skin temperaturę. The generał fceling of warm-ing up during ^va break also affected the perception of foot temperaturę.

A difference in temperaturę between the left and right hand was found in several cases, mainly among the butchers and packers, e.g_n when they held cold goods with one hand. The subjects proved to be able to estimate these differences, as exemplified on the right in fig. 7. A difference of 4—5°C in the temperaturę of the left and right hand of a subject was clearly reflected in the perceived tempera

turę of the respective hands, whereas the objcctively measured skin temperaturę did not differ in those cases in which the same perceived value was given for both hands. In most subjects, a difference of 2—3°C between hands was sufficient to elicit discriminating ratings.

The interindividual yariation in the 1 evel_of perceived temperaturę was consld-erabie at.all the work sites. Nęyerthcless, ceruin tendencies were common to all the subjects examined. Hands and feet begant to feel cold at finger and toe tempera tu res undenabout 25^WC. At a linger temperaturę of less than 20°C_t almost every subject perceiyed his/her hands as rather or very cold..

As a rule, discomfort from cold was only reported in conjuncilon with very Iow skin temperatures. In the dames most of the subjects experienced discomfort in their hands and/or feet on some occasion. Dis-comfort from cold was noted at temperatures under 20—21 °C. The finger temperaturę of the butchers was generally somewhat higher, and they did not report discomfort from cold hands. One subject in the packaging department, whose work involved laying slices of semithawed liver on pJastic trays, had a fjnger temperaturę below -h 10°C during one period, and she reported great discomfort in the form of finger pairT and stfflness in conjunction with these duties.

temperaturo h° body was nperature ‘ be rather were around ■* scalę. The nperature i od rough

Fig. 7. Skin temperaturę and correspondlng ratings of perceived temperaturę (see methods sec-tion) on the Jeft hand and foot (on the lelt) and on the right and left hand (on the right) of one subject The measurements were madę during 2 b of work in the meat packaging department (+ 10°C).