Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) today announced that it conducting trials of a wearable technology in its annual program to prevent heat-related illness in industrial workers during the hot UAE summers.
This year, 50 volunteers working in EGA’s potlines, which are among the hottest parts of the company’s operations, are wearing devices to monitor critical health indicators, including core body temperature, heart rate, and sweating rate.
Data is transmitted in real-time to supervisors and EGA’s occupational health team, with alerts to variations of potential concern.
The technology is expected to further improve timely detection of the earliest signs of heat-related illness and speed intervention.
Abdulnasser bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said, “We have focused on preventing heat-related illness each summer for many years. Through the commitment of all our people to this important effort, we have significantly reduced the incidence and severity of heat-related illness at EGA, and in 2020 we achieved zero cases.”
“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,” he said.
EGA’s “Beat the Heat” program is an intense, annual summer-long effort across operations, which starts with awareness programs to build knowledge of heat-related illness and its early signs for individuals and those around them.