On a hot summer day, workers recently worked to remove asbestos and hazardous waste at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. It is a former nuclear center that the government wants to tear down.
The men wore full-body protective clothing and used respirators to clean the air they breathe. But the clothing does not protect them from high temperatures inside the building and inside their heavy clothing. On their arms, they wear devices that record their heart rates, movements and levels of exertion. The aim is to look for heat stress.
Stephanie Miller oversees safety and health for the company responsible for the cleanup. She watches a computer to observe each worker’s data looking for danger of overheating.
Miller said, “Heat is one of the greatest risks that we have in this work, even though we deal with high radiation, hazardous chemicals and heavy metals.”
Heat in the workplace
The issue of heat in the workplace has been getting more attention since a 2021 report from the research organization Atlantic Council. The group said the United States loses an average of $100 billion each year from “heat-induced” reductions in productivity.
The Environmental Protection Agency said from 1992 to 2022, 986 people died from heat-related causes in U.S. workplaces.
Employers have measured heat-related stress by checking employees’ temperatures with thermometers. More recently, firefighters and military members have swallowed thermometer capsules.
As the world experiences record-high temperatures, employers are exploring wearable technologies, like sensors and armbands, to help keep workers safe. They collect body temperature and warn workers to take breaks when they get too hot.
Perrigo, a drug company, gave SlateSafety armbands to more than 100 employees at its baby food factory. The devices estimate the wearer’s body temperature. A reading of 101.3 results in an alert, or a warning.
Another device from the Massachusetts company Epicore Biosystems uses sweat to find out if a worker is overheating.
Experts say the effectiveness of some devices remains unproven although research has shown that some successfully predict body temperature. A 2022 study said age, sex, and the amount of water in the air make it difficult to measure body temperature.
Privacy concerns
However, some groups worry that employers will use the technology to punish people for taking needed breaks.
Travis Parsons is with the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America, a labor rights group. Parsons said, “Any time you put a device on a worker, they’re very concerned about tracking, privacy, and how are you going to use this against me.”
United Cleanup Oak Ridge is the partnership that is responsible for cleaning up the nuclear reactor in Tennessee. The company says it uses medical examinations to make work decisions. Miller, the health supervisor said the company sent a few employees to see their personal doctors who found out they had heart problems.
At Perrigo, safety official Rob Somers said supervisors look at information on people with several alerts and speak to them to see if there is “a reason why they’re not able to work in the environment.”
Adam Schwartz is with the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, a civil liberties group based in San Francisco. He said the idea that companies could keep years of medical information on employees raises privacy concerns. He said the information could be used to withhold health plans or dismiss workers.
Schwartz said, “The device could hurt…because you could raise your hand and say, ‘I need a break,’ and the boss could say, ‘No, your heart rate is not elevated, go back to work.’”
To reduce such risks, employers should permit workers to accept or reject using the devices. They could process only necessary information and delete the information in 24 hours, Schwartz said.
Ikusei Misaka, a professor at Tokyo’s Musashino University, raised another concern. Misaka noted that information gathered from wearing such devices could result in workers getting unwanted marketing for goods or services.
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
Cathy Bussewitz reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
hazardous –adj. dangerous
-induced –adj. -produced
capsule –n. a rounded piece of medicine or medical device meant to be swallowed
sensor –n. an electrical device that measures something in the physical world and turns it into an electrical signal
armband –n. something that is worn on the arm that can have a device attached to it
tracking –n. following something or someone to find out more about it
elevate –v. to lift something up or bring it to a higher level
delete –v. to completely remove something so that it is no longer there