UAE Business: EGA trials wearables to prevent heat-related illness in staff – Gulf Digital News

UAE Business: EGA trials wearables to prevent heat-related illness in staff – Gulf Digital News

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, today announced the company is trialling wearable technology in its annual programme to prevent heat-related illness amongst industrial workers in the hot UAE summer.

This year, 50 volunteers working in EGA’s potlines, which are amongst 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.

Use of the technology is expected to further improve timely detection of the earliest signs of heat-related illness and speed intervention.

Heat-related illness is a hazard for anyone working outside in the summer months, and can be fatal if left untreated. EGA’s industrial processes generate further heat and must operate continuously, meaning workers are on shift around the clock every day of the year.

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