As temperatures rise, companies turn to technology to cool down workers

New technologies, some using artificial intelligence, that aim to save workers from becoming overheated and dehydrated are starting to enter the workplace. Among them: mobile apps that detect heat stress and offer tips on how to cool down, wearable devices that nudge workers when they’re dehydrated, clothing made with cooling fabrics, and machines that distribute cool air indoors more effectively.

“Yes, water, rest, shade are of course fundamental heat-protection measures, but we need to go beyond that as global temperatures continue to rise," says Margaret Morrissey-Basler, chair of the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s thermal stress working group.

More than 13 million workers are exposed to extreme heat in the U.S., according to Public Citizen, a national nonprofit organization. They include construction, sanitation and utility workers, delivery workers, landscapers and factory workers.

The problem is growing as heat waves have increased in intensity and duration in recent years. And the debilitating effects of extreme heat aren’t just an issue for workers. When the heat causes employees to be less efficient or miss time at work, it can affect a company’s bottom line.

Here’s a look at how some companies are starting to use the latest technologies to reduce heat stress among their employees.

Wearables that warn

Chevron this summer began equipping its field workers with wearable devices designed to guard against heat stress, after testing them out in a pilot project over the past four years. The devices, worn on the biceps, measure sweat loss, sodium loss, skin temperature and movement, and vibrate to nudge a worker when it’s time to rehydrate. An alarm sounds when the worker is down 2% of body weight in sweat volume.

The nudges prompt the worker to check an app on their phone to see exactly how much water and sodium via electrolytes they need to consume.

“Think about someone with a blowtorch in their hand, or someone who is next to a furnace or they’re working near a big vehicle that is emanating a lot of heat," says Kathryn Underhill, digital scout at Chevron Technology Ventures. “All of these things make it such that the environmental temperature is oftentimes way different than the skin temperature that the worker is experiencing."

The new devices use artificial intelligence to analyze the data they collect to determine the wearer’s hydration needs, says Roozbeh Ghaffari, chief executive and co-founder of Epicore Biosystems, the maker of the devices.

Kyle Denny, who is on the emergency-response team at a Chevron location in Belle Chasse, La., volunteered to test the wearable device during an annual fire training exercise for a week in 2022. He says he noticed a difference in his hydration awareness.

“Without this device, nothing would have told me I need to replenish myself," says the 34-year-old. “I went to this training several times, and by Friday, you’re very tired, fatigued, more than likely from being dehydrated. During this week, by Friday, I felt good because I was staying ahead of it. I was more so being proactive on my hydration versus reactive trying to catch up."

He liked that the technology didn’t just spit out generic advice to drink water, instead giving him a sense of how much hydration he needed and whether he needed electrolytes in addition to water. “That was pretty neat to be able to see that," he says.

Clothing that cools

United Parcel Service is outfitting its delivery drivers with new hats, sleeves and towels made with cooling technologies developed by Mission (a portfolio company of private-equity firm Topspin Consumer Partners), which is known for supplying such fabrics to the professional sports industry. The technology helps the fabrics stay up to 30 degrees cooler than average body temperature, the company says.

In general, parcel carriers say they post regular heat-awareness reminders to drivers when summer rolls around. And in a contract agreement with the Teamsters union last year, UPS agreed to purchase air-conditioned vehicles from 2024 onward and to install fans and exhaust-heat shields in existing vehicles to prevent the floor of the cab from overheating. The company also installed technology to feed fresh air to delivery trucks’ cargo bays.

In August, a UPS driver in Anna, Texas, passed out on the road, drifted off a highway and crashed into some trees in what the Teamsters union says was a heat-related accident. He was hospitalized overnight and released. The Anna Police Department is investigating, and a UPS spokesman said the company is working with the authorities and deferred to them for questions. The police haven’t commented on the cause of the accident, and the driver hasn’t been available for comment.

UPS ran a pilot program in 2021 and then started distributing hats, sleeves and towels using Mission’s cooling technology to drivers and employees who work in its sorting facilities in the spring of 2022, according to Cormac Gilligan, UPS’s global head of health and safety.

Drivers can wet the towel, sleeves or hats with water, wring them out and place them on the body to experience the instant cooling effect of evaporation, says Josh Shaw, Mission’s founder and chairman. The effect lasts about 25 minutes when worn on the road in a moving vehicle with fans blowing.

The sleeves also provide UPF protection, and some drivers will use a sleeve on their leg if they are wearing shorts and driving with the door open and the left side of the body exposed, says Mission Chief Executive Jocelyn Thornton. Shaw says the company is working on a concept for cooling leg sleeves.

Justin Niznik, 38, who has been a UPS driver in San Antonio for 15 years, has been wearing the hats and sleeves for the past two. He says he likes the hats’ lightness. When he wets the hat and wrings it out, with the truck’s fan running, “you can feel a noticeable cooling," he says. And with the sleeves, “it’s nice when you sweat, that’ll help cool them down too instead of pouring water on," he says.

Niznik says the hottest time of the day in San Antonio is around 3 to 6 p.m., when he is doing more residential deliveries. “So we’re out in the sun, we’re in and out of the truck, and it is nice to just be able to pour some water on the sleeves and as you’re driving, as you’re walking and that wind is hitting you, you can feel a significant cool-down on your arms," he says.

High-tech air handlers

Cavernous manufacturing plants can be difficult to cool, given the amount of space and the heat thrown off by the plant’s operations. Traditional air conditioners and other methods haven’t been effective enough at GE Appliances factories. So the company, a subsidiary of China-based Haier Smart Home, turned to high-tech air handlers to cool several of its plants.

Beyond cooling and dehumidifying the air as air conditioners do, air handlers typically distribute the air more evenly and more powerfully. Trane Technologies, a provider of climate solutions to buildings and transportation, supplied the high-tech air handlers used at a number of GE Appliances’ large plants.

The machines are placed in a number of areas throughout the plants. Sensor technology in the units allows them to adjust the temperature automatically as needed in their area.

The company has been encouraged by employees’ response, especially in certain plants where it had been struggling to retain hourly workers, such as its Roper facility in LaFayette, Ga., where cooking appliances like electric ranges, wall ovens and cooktops are made. Hiring and retention “dramatically improved" there after the air handlers were installed, says Bill Good, GE Appliances’ vice president of supply chain.

“It has made a huge difference," says Summer Evans, a team leader at the Roper plant whose area recently implemented the cooling system. “On some days, if you’re working close enough to it, it’s actually a little chilly. That’s a very nice problem to have."

Evans, who is 45 and has worked at GE Appliances for 19 years, currently works on building countertop cooking units for homes, which give off a lot of heat during constant testing. “They’re boiling water for hours on end, so it obviously stays very warm," she says.

This summer, she’s not sweating as much. “Before, it was very humid, very muggy, the air was just very thick." She says that she and her colleagues used to wet towels and other articles and put them around their necks in an effort to cool down. “Some people go as far as to wear tank tops," she says. “You don’t see that so much anymore" since the new cooling system was installed.

Now noise is something of an issue. “I do work closely to the air system, and it is a little loud, but not so bad that you can’t hear your co-workers," Evans says. “It’s just a noise level that we’re just not used to basically." But she considers it a worthwhile trade-off for relief from the heat. “It’s definitely made it easier," she says.

Esther Fung contributed to this article.