Cool Tech for Hot Workers

June 1, 2024

It's That Time Again - It's Really Hot

As we head into the summer, we are already seeing the heat advisories issued. It will be 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) by 9:00 am this morning in my area. Even a 5:00 am start will only get you a few hours of heat relief. Water, rest, and shade is the familiar mantra here, but I am going to shift gears a little bit and advise everyone to plan, plan, plan. If you are in the construction industry and you have not yet incorporated active heat mitigation measures into your daily work plans, you are leaving your personnel exposed to significant risk of injury.

At a minimum, you should have already taken these steps:

• Everyone should have received training on the risks of working in the heat - including signs and symptoms of heat illnesses, appropriate first aid measures, and steps everyone can take to protect themselves
• Everyone should recognize that the air temperature alone is not the only factor to consider – humidity, wind (or lack thereof), additional sources of radiant heat on construction sites, multiple layers of PPE, and workload all play a significant role in the stress applied to a person on a construction site
• You should recognize that proper hydration has to begin before you get to the job site – if you wake up dehydrated and hit the job 45 minutes later to start working in the heat, it is going to be really difficult to be properly hydrated the rest of the day
• Your company needs a written heat mitigation plan – the Water, Rest, Shade poster on the job site is not a written plan
• You should have a site specific plan that addresses water and shade – there is no one size fits all plan here, it really depends on your work and your project(s) – maybe the general contractor has it all established, maybe it's up to the trades to figure it out, maybe your workforce is mobile throughout the day – this needs to be thought through in advance and communicated to everyone

There are many resources out there. Take advantage of them!

• Staying hydrated when you work in the heat every day is more difficult than many people realize. I have been using a product called Liquid IV added to my water to stay hydrated for the last couple of years and I swear by it. It's different than a typical electrolyte drink, using technology developed for regions that needed a way to hydrate people when medical intervention like intravenously delivered fluids is not readily available. I wouldn’t use it to replace medical evaluation in someone that’s experiencing symptoms of heat illness, but I do think starting the day with a bottle of water with Liquid I.V. added makes a huge difference.
• The Heat App from NIOSH is available for both Android and iOS – I am disappointed that they modified this to include only 3 heat hazard levels instead of the original 5, but it still has a great hour by hour planning tool that is location enabled (in the U.S. only) to allow you to see what the heat index will look like throughout the coming day so you can plan accordingly, and it’s a great pocket reference to the signs, symptoms, and first aid procedures for heat illness. Note that the app is also available in Spanish.

• When doing strenuous work outside in the heat, there is no better tool available than the Kestrel Heat Stress Meter for incorporating all factors (air temp, humidity, wind speed, radiant heat sources, workload, and clothing layers) and telling you when people are at an elevated risk. Kestrel Instruments makes a few different meters used in several industries, but this one uses wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and has the NIOSH recommended exposure levels and heat hazard categories built-in to alert everyone to elevated hazards so work can be adjusted accordingly.
• Acclimatization is a real thing. This is the method of getting a person’s body more adjusted to deal with the stress that will be placed on it by working in the heat. It consists of starting with a lower workload for several days and ramping up to a higher workload over a couple of weeks to give the body time to adjust to the heat levels we will be experiencing this summer.

All of the things I have discussed here require planning. Don’t expect every person in your workforce to just go out and figure this all out on their own. There needs to be a plan in place that is specific to your activities and worksite. You also need to remember two critical components in every plan:

1. There needs to be a trigger in your plan where work stops – we stop work in extreme cold weather and we need to do the same in extreme heat – again, advanced planning can minimize this by shifting certain work to earlier hours, providing shade, reducing workload, etc.
2. Everyone needs to understand that Heat Stroke is a life-threatening medical emergency that you cannot treat in the field – even trained paramedics will tell you that once a person crosses that threshold into Heat Stroke their chances of survival and full recovery are very low and they require full medical intervention to survive.

Rethinking the Incorporation of Technology

Over the past year, I have looked at some incredible technology solutions for the construction industry. Of course, there is plenty of technology out there that is already being used on many projects; in particular software applications such as Fieldwire by Hilti that allows you to ditch the paper blueprints and bring shared digital drawings and workflows to the field. Then there are applications that haven’t seen such widespread adoption…yet. Apps like Pixly that are seemingly simple on the surface but contain some interesting technology and automation that I know can be put to good use.

Sometimes the tech we see introduced is purpose built. It is clear from the moment you look at it that it has a main use case. You implement it for that use case, and then you may find some interesting things you can make it do when you get creative. Fieldwire fits into this category. Other times, someone creates really interesting tech, but it’s more of a multipurpose tool. You look at it and realize it could be really useful because you can almost see many different things you can do with it, but it’s not readily apparent if it’s the best tool for any one job. Sort of like a multitool from Leatherman Tool Group . They are really cool, they can do lots of things, and they are even offered at a price point that shouldn’t make it a difficult decision; and yet you can’t help but look at it and wonder if you should get it because, let’s face it, I can get a better set of pliers, a much better screw driver, and I already have a better pocket knife.

I think Pixly falls into this category. Following that analogy through a bit further, I can definitely buy several different tools that each end up being superior to the tools built into my Leatherman, and in fact I already have most of them. But in the end, I don’t think any of them get used as much as my Leatherman because it does so many different things and I always have it with me. It’s simple to carry and deploy, and all the tools stay together so I don’t have to look for them. I certainly end up using it on tasks that I have a better tool for, but since I have the Leatherman with me, I just pull it out and use it so the task gets done. If I have to leave and get another tool, the probability that I will get sidetracked and not come back to that task goes up dramatically. Right or wrong, that’s just the way it is.

We need to improve many things in construction, so maybe we need to try out more tools like Pixly to see if they help us; for the same reason that I always carry my Leatherman every time I am on a construction site. The little things I can do as I walk the site contribute to improvement and would not get done if I didn’t have the little tool.

Take Aways

The discussion on heat safety included several great resources, so make sure to check out the links. Additional take aways here are simple:

Refresh your knowledge on heat safety and heat hazard mitigation – even if your company has already provided training. If it's been a while, take it again or get training on your own. If you have access to LinkedIn Learning, here is a 60-minute refresher with a bunch of information and ideas. Yes, the “company” is supposed to provide a safe and healthy workplace, but there are many personal factors when it comes to knowing how your body is going to react in the heat. Learn them and protect yourself. Hydration is a great example. There is very little your employer can do for you if you show up to the job dehydrated, and many people fall into this category. Start hydrating the night before, consider a product like Liquid IV, and get acclimatized.

When it comes to technology, there is obviously a lot of it that will have to be adopted at a company level, but it doesn’t always have to start out that way. If you are still using paper blueprints because your company hasn’t made the switch to digital drawings maybe it's time for you take the lead and give it try. I show you how in the video below in just a few minutes.

Beyond that, consider some of the things that you can do on your own. It's easy to evaluate the usefulness of something like Pixly on your own. Think about what problem it might be able to solve for you. Give it a try for a few months and see if it helps.

There are many opportunities to do this, both at a personal level and at the company level. Some require some cash, and a bit of a commitment. Others are a little easier. Take the Kestral Heat Stress Meter as an example. For about $500 this is easy to order, learn, and deploy. In some conditions, it’s a real lifesaver. I bought one and took it to a job site to set up on a commercial roof in the middle of the summer. The radiant heat coming off the roofing coating was so intense, we were at unacceptable exposures by 11:00 am, but the city had an ordinance that wouldn't allow us to start until 7:00 am, limiting our practical (and productive) workday to 4 hours. We were able to use the data from the Heat Stress Meter to convince the city to give us a waiver to start work at 4:00 am when heat stress was considerably lower.

What other examples can you think of to incorporate technology to improve safety, quality, and productivity? I have a few more ideas to discuss in the next issue of this newsletter, so if you aren’t already subscribed, do that now so you don’t miss it when it comes out!

Additional Resources for Construction Management Professionals

If you are on LinkedIn Learning and haven't seen the new professional certificate programs that are being offered, you should go take a look! This page lists all the professional certificate offerings (with new programs in the works), along with cert prep exams and continuing education partnerships. Many of our construction management courses are accredited for CEU's by the Project Management Institute. I am excited to announce that one of the latest offerings on LinkedIn Learning is the Construction Management Professional Certificate, sponsored by LinkedIn and Procore Technologies. Earn the certificate by completing 9 courses and passing a final exam. If you have been watching my courses on LinkedIn Learning, you may already have some of these requirements completed! Check it out by clicking on the image below.

Here are some additional ways to access more tips and advice for professionals in the #aec industries (#Architecture, #Engineering, #Construction):

1. Visit The Construction Collaborative at www.cmsocial.net to find ideas, tips and tricks, video tutorials, and to help form a community of construction professionals sharing ideas and solutions.
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