AIHA asks for feedback on new heat stress mobile app
Photo: American Industrial Hygiene Association/Google Play
Falls Church, VA — The American Industrial Hygiene Association has unveiled a beta version of its new heat stress mobile app and is asking employers and outdoor workers to evaluate it.
Developed by AIHA’s Thermal Stress Working Group in partnership with East Carolina University, the app allows users to input potential heat stress factors such as:
- Location(s)
- Intensity of workload (light, moderate, heavy or very heavy)
- Clothing type (six different options)
- Cloud coverage (degree of sun exposure)
Users can also select their preferred language (English, Spanish, French or Portuguese).
The app uses local weather data to calculate the wet bulb globe temperature – a metric of heat stress that incorporates air temperature, relative humidity, wind and radiant heat.
“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,” an AIHA press release states.
The association said it expects to officially launch the app in September.
“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,” AIHA CEO Lawrence D. Sloan said in the release. “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.”
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