EGA introduces health trackers to reduce heat-related problems in employees during UAE’s extreme summer

Today, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial organisation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), excluding oil and gas, declared that the company is attaching wearable technologies to its employees under its ‘Beat the Heat’ programme. This move is to diminish heat-induced illnesses amongst industrial workers in the hot summers of the UAE.

This year, fifty volunteers who were sweating their way around EGA’s potlines were tagged with devices to monitor critical health indicators like heart rate, sweating rate and core body temperature. Real-time data would get conveyed to supervisors and EGA’s in-house health team, who warn the authorities of possible threats to an individual’s health. By using this technology, the company will detect the emerging signs of serious health problems and intervene when required.

The ‘Beat the Heat’ programme by EGA is a rigorous, all-summer long, annually designed effort across operations, starting with awareness programmes to illustrate heat-related diseases and their earliest signs in individuals or people around them. 

The CEO of EGA, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, commented: “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. Wearable technology offers the prospect of zero cases every summer, and I am optimistic about this trial. While heat-related illness is a particular challenge working with industrial processes that generate heat, it is a hazard for people working outside across our country. 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.”

EGA’s mechanical processes yield a humungous amount of heat and must continue to operate at a stretch which means, the workers sweat around a 24*7 shift, alternatively for each day of the year.  Heat-related diseases can harm anyone working outdoors during summer and can be dangerous if not treated on time.

Just a year before, EGA witnessed two heat-related emergency cases that had to be treated at the company’s internal medical centre. Thankfully, in both cases, the employees fully recovered within two hours and had to undergo rehydration via intravenous drips.

As a precautionary measure, employees working for EGA are now required to take hydration tests before and during shifts and will get access to cooling showers. The employees are also requested to take regular breaks while on the work pad with cooling booths, ice makers, drinking stations and portable air conditioning units at their disposal. UV protection creams and heat rash prevention ointments will stay nearby to help people soothe their heat-exposed skin. These workstations will be loaded with reusable water bottles and energetic electrolyte drinks.