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Tech, Construction Company Study Heat Sensor Devices
Physiological monitoring platform Kenzen has partnered with Kansas City-based firm Garney Construction to test out a new, wearable smart device to monitor health indicators of each worker.
The devices are worn on the arms of 28 Garney workers at 10 worksites throughout the United States, and they monitor things such as core body temperature, heart rate and exertion level. These measurements are being studied for proactive prediction and prevention of heat injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
About the Devices
“We’re committed to continually evaluating new methods of protecting our employee-owners and incorporating the best solutions available,” said Ryan Smith, Regional Safety Manager at Garney, who coordinated the proof-of-concept project with the company’s environmental health and safety leaders and regional project supervisors.
“We’re looking to add more prevention approaches to our systems, which now include education and training, hydration, monitoring atmospheric and ambient heat, and cooling stations.”
Data from the sensors provide alerts to workers by sending notifications to the device and smartphones, as well as to supervisors’ phones and a web dashboard. The tech provides real-time heat health status updates of all team members.
Alerts can escalate from a “stop work” message to alerts for additional measures in emergency situations. After a worker has paused to rest and/or hydrate, additional alerts let the worker know when their temperature has returned to a safe level.
The data is being taken from different kinds of locations, from Arizona to Florida to Colorado, and the data will be gathered to detect patterns and customize heat stress prevention and treatment strategies.
Garney says it has already used the data to adjust break times and educate workers on acclimatization and clothing choices.
Heat Warnings
Every year, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues its annual reminder to employers “of their duty to protect employees from the risks and dangers of heat exposure.”
The message, as usual, emphasizes water, rest and shade, as well as monitoring physical exertion.
OSHA lists the following as ways employers can work to mitigate heat hazards:
OSHA also directs professionals to its Occupational Heat Exposure page, which explains symptoms of heat illness as well as first aid measures, proactive engineering controls and work practices to reduce workers’ exposure to heat.
However, some entities are taking heat illness prevention a step further. In 2019, a Florida lawmaker introduced a bill that would set a statewide standard for those working outdoors in relation to heat illness prevention.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, would mandate that workers be given plenty of drinking water, access to shade and 10-minute rest breaks enforced after every two hours of outside labor.
In addition to access to water, shade and breaks, the Florida House bill, and its companion bill in the state Senate, would also require training to spot signs of heat exhaustion and an acclimatization period for workers.
While OSHA has guidelines and recommendations to avoid heat hazards, there is no set standard for heat exposure.
Led by nonprofit Public Citizen, the petition called for OSHA to do more than just point to suggested guidelines provided by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and argued that, as the climate changes, workers are experiencing more and more heat stress every year, which can take a dangerous toll on the body.
According to the government, 69,374 workers were seriously injured from heat between 1992 and 2016, and 783 U.S. workers died from heat exposure. By combining climate projects and census data, Public Citizen concluded that, by 2050, more than 1 million agriculture and construction workers will experience 30 days or more of dangerous heat per year.
While OSHA endorses NIOSH’s criteria, it has never created a nationally enforceable rule requiring employers to provide water, rest, shade and, more specifically, acclimatization programs or training to recognize symptoms of heat illness.
OSHA does provide visual indicators for heat index levels, which are the baselines for the NIOSH guidelines. However, those levels were also put under the magnifying glass last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which oversees NIOSH.
In August 2018, the CDC released findings from a study that determined whether the heat index limits are effective in protecting workers. The CDC retrospectively reviewed 25 outdoor occupational heat-related illnesses—14 fatal, 11 nonfatal—investigated by OSHA from 2011 to 2016.
Research found that heat stress exceeded exposure limits in all 14 fatalities and in eight of the 11 nonfatal illnesses.
OSHA recommends using the heat index to protect workers, and separates temperatures into four categories:
