Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), one of the biggest industrial companies in the UAE, is trialling wearable technology that could protect industrial workers from heat-related illness amid the country’s scorching summer.
Around fifty volunteers working in the company’s potlines will be wearing the test devices, which will monitor their body temperature, heart rate, and sweating rate. The data will be transmitted to supervisors and EGA’s health team in real time, the company said in a release.
“While heat-related illness is a particular challenge working with industrial processes that generate heat, it is a hazard for people working outside across our country. I am looking forward to sharing the results of this trial widely and other lessons we have learned to the benefit of everyone contributing to the wellbeing of our society through outdoor work,” Abdulnasser bin Kalban (below), CEO of EGA, said.
Heat-related illness is a common concern across the region, especially for industrial labourers who are usually working around the clock every day of the year.
The UAE firm has created the “Beat the Heat” programme to prevent such cases and to “build knowledge of heat-related illness and its early signs.”
EGA said its employees undertake hydration tests before and during tests, regular breaks, as well as given access to cooling showers.
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