ABSTRACT
Cold stress is developed when some, or several, of the basic avenues of heat loss (radiation, evaporation, conduction, and convection) exceed the heat production of human tissues. The available methods of assessing cold stress analyze one or several forms of the above-mentioned avenues of heat loss, or they quantify the signs of cold stress in human body. There are several indices and standards to quantify cold stress. Assessment of cold exposure and cold stress are reviewed by Holmér (1993, 2001) and Parsons (2003). An ISO standard under development (ISO CD 15743, unpublished) aims to give a practical three-level approach to analyze cold stress starting from simple checklists and continuing, if necessary, to simple measurements and, finally, to extensive measurements.
