AIHA Releases New Heat Stress Mobile App for Open Beta Feedback
2024年7月23日 - 9:30PM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
Outdoor workers and employers are encouraged to
test the app, designed to assess outdoor occupational heat hazards,
and provide feedback during Beta Phase
With experts predicting Summer 2024 will shatter heat records
across the country, countless outdoor workers are facing
significant health risks from heat hazards on the job. To address
the increased risk of heat illnesses posed by rising temperatures,
AIHA – the association for scientists and professionals committed
to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health
and safety (OEHS) – announced the availability of its new “AIHA
Heat Stress Mobile App” during its Open Beta testing phase this
summer.
“As the climate continues to change, AIHA recognized the need to
better protect workers from heat stress—which is why our team of
occupational and environmental health and safety experts worked so
diligently to develop an app that can more accurately gauge heat
stress risks in real time unlike any tool offered previously,” said
Lawrence D. Sloan, CEO of AIHA. “We encourage outdoor workers and
employers, large and small, to test our new app during this Beta
phase and provide us with feedback to help us fine tune the app’s
functionality to better protect workers from heat-related
illnesses.”
Developed by leading OEHS heat safety experts from the AIHA’s
Thermal Stress Working Group and in partnership with East Carolina
University, the AIHA Heat Stress Mobile App is now available as a
free download on both iOS and Android platforms. The AIHA Heat
Stress Mobile App is currently available for open beta testing
before a broader application launch expected in September 2024.
AIHA has developed detailed instructions for users on how to
provide feedback. This easy-to-use, free tool allows users to input
information that will factor into their overall heat stress risk,
including:
- Location (multiple locations can be selected)
- Intensity of workload (users can select light, moderate, heavy,
very heavy)
- Clothing type (uses can choose from six different options)
- Cloud coverage (degree of sun exposure)
- Preferred language (English, Spanish, French, or
Portuguese)
From the data provided and using local weather data from the
user’s local National Weather Service, the app calculates the
user’s Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT)—the gold standard for
evaluating heat stress that incorporates air temperature, relative
humidity, wind, and radiant heat—and associated heat stress risk
level. Based on this calculated risk, the app delivers important
notifications and reminders, including health recommendations such
as rest breaks and water consumption based on an individual’s risk
level, recommended heat stress prevention measures, warning signs
of heat-related illness, and first aid recommendations to assist a
worker in distress.
“The AIHA app supports not only the outdoor workers who are
monitoring their own heat-related risks, but it can also be used by
managers who are able to input locations manually to track working
conditions in real time,” said Margaret C. Morrissey-Basler, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences at Providence
College and Chair of the AIHA’s Thermal Stress Working Group. “This
allows managers to make decisions about the impact heat has on
their workers’ health and safety and adjust workloads
accordingly.”
Dr. Morrissey-Basler’s research has shown that workers
experiencing heat stress do not perform their job as efficiently as
workers not impacted by this type of heat exposure, which can
negatively impact an organization’s bottom line. In addition,
recent research has shown that there are more than 700 heat-related
fatalities per year on average in the United States, making
environmental heat exposure the leading cause of weather-related
deaths.
While both the AIHA Heat Stress Mobile App and the Heat Safety
Tool released by OSHA and NIOSH in 2017 have several similar
features, a significant difference is that the OSHA/NIOSH app
calculates heat risk based on the heat index or “feel like
temperature” rather than the more accurate WBGT. The AIHA Heat
Stress Mobile App is not a replacement of the OSHA/NIOSH app, but
the new app utilizing the WBGT is a more advanced version that both
employees and employers can use with additional tools designed to
calculate high and extreme heat stress risks more accurately for
workload types.
While the new app monitors the WBGT in real time, another
distinguishing feature is its ability to forecast the WBGT up to
five days in the future. Dr. Morrissey-Basler noted that the
ability to determine the projected WBGT ahead of time can help
employers plan and adjust their work schedules accordingly. The app
can assess weather data throughout North, Central, and South
America, and plans are underway to ensure it is functional
globally.
In addition to providing a timer function that alerts users when
it is recommended to rest and hydrate, the AIHA Heat Stress Mobile
App relays signs and symptoms of heat-related illness. Dr.
Morrissey-Basler added that exposure to extreme heat can result in
occupational illnesses caused by heat stress, including heat
stroke, heat exhaustion, cardiac events, kidney injury, or even
death. Heat can also increase workers’ risk of injuries, as it may
result in sweaty palms, fogged-up safety glasses, dizziness, and
may reduce brain function responsible for reasoning ability –
creating additional hazards.
As part of AIHA’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness of the
dangers of occupational heat stress, new free resources devoted to
workplace heat stress were recently added to its Healthier
Workplaces website. A separate section for employees outlines
personal risk factors that increase one’s risk of heat-related
injuries or illnesses on the job, tools to assess personal fluid
needs, and important warning signs and symptoms of exertional heat
stroke. In addition, employers can find strategies to establish
evidence-based heat stress protocols designed to safeguard both
indoor and outdoor workers.
About AIHA
AIHA is the association for scientists and professionals
committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental
health and safety in the workplace and community. Founded in 1939,
we support our members with our expertise, networks, comprehensive
education programs, and other products and services that help them
maintain the highest professional and competency standards. More
than half of AIHA's nearly 8,500 members are Certified Industrial
Hygienists, and many hold other professional designations. AIHA
serves as a resource for those employed across the public and
private sectors, as well as to the communities in which they work.
For more information, visit www.aiha.org.
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Karen Sideris CS-Effect (219) 644-5616 (Central Time) Jessie
Lewis Marketing Director, AIHA (703) 846-0742 (Eastern Time)