Emirates Global Aluminium announced the company has expanded the use of Kenzen, a wearable technology platform, to 350 employee volunteers to ‘Beat the Heat’ this summer.
Kenzen’s wearable technology offers the potential to further protect outdoor workers in the UAE, by continuously reporting core body temperature, heart rate, activity and other body indicators in real time allowing both the wearer and EGA’s safety team to detect heat strain in the body before the early signs can be felt. EGA used wearable devices for the first time in a trial of 50 volunteers last summer.
Despite industrial processes that generate further heat, and which must run and be tended around the clock, EGA achieved zero heat-related illnesses in 2019 and 2022. In 2021, EGA recorded two cases of heat-related illness requiring treatment at the company’s on-site medical centres. In both cases, the employees received rehydration via intravenous drips and fully recovered within hours.
“Heat-related illness is a serious threat to health and even life in our region, and increasingly around the world," Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said. "Our work has shown that heat-related illness is entirely preventable, even in challenging industrial environments like ours. Wearable technology offers the potential to protect people even more, and I am looking forward to the results of the wider trial we are conducting this summer.”
EGA‘s ‘Beat the Heat’ program is an intense, summer-long effort across the company’s operations. Employees are trained to detect the early signs of heat stress in themselves and others. EGA conducts hydration tests before and during shifts, and employees are encouraged to take regular breaks and cooling showers. Cooling booths, drinking stations, icemakers and portable air conditioning units in EGA production areas help keep people cool.
