Heat stress monitoring system. Innovative technology summary report
Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States), USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States) · 1998
The US Department of Energy`s (DOE) nuclear facility decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) program involves the need to decontaminate and decommission buildings expeditiously and cost-effectively. Simultaneously, the health and safety of personnel involved in the D and D activities is of primary concern. Often, D and D workers must perform duties in inclement weather, and because they also frequently work in contaminated areas, they must wear personal protective clothing and/or respirators. Monitoring the health status of workers under these conditions is an important component of ensuring their safety. The MiniMitter VitalSense Telemetry System`s heat stress monitoring system (HSMS) is designed to monitor the vital signs of individual workers as they perform work in conditions that might be conducive to heat exhaustion or heat stress. The HSMS provides real-time data on the physiological condition of workers which can be monitored to prevent heat stress or other adverse health situations. This system is particularly useful when workers are wearing personal protective clothing or respirators that make visual observation of their condition more difficult. The MiniMitter VitalSense Telemetry System can monitor up to four channels (e.g., heart rate, body activity, ear canal, and skin temperature) and ten workers from a single supervisory station. The monitors are interfaced with a portable computer that updates and records information on individual workers. This innovative technology, even though it costs more, is an attractive alternative to the traditional (baseline) technology, which measures environmental statistics and predicts the average worker`s reaction to those environmental conditions without taking the physical condition of the individual worker into consideration. Although use of the improved technology might be justified purely on the basis of improved safety, it has the potential to pay for itself by reducing worker time lost caused by heat stress incidents.