On the use of wearable physiological monitors to assess heat strain during occupational heat stress

Abstract

Workers in many industries are required to perform arduous work in high heat-stress conditions, which can lead to rapid increases in body temperature that elevate the risk of heat-related illness and even death. Traditionally, effort to mitigate work-related heat injury has been directed toward the assessment of environmental heat stress (e.g., wet-bulb globe temperature), rather than toward the associated physiological strain responses (e.g., heart rate and skin and core temperatures). However, because a worker's physiological response to a given heat stress is modified independently by inter-individual factors (e.g., age, sex, chronic disease, others) and intra-individual factors both within (e.g., medication use, fitness, acclimation and hydration state, others) and beyond (e.g., shift duration, illness, others) the worker's control, it becomes challenging to protect workers on an individual basis from heat-related injury without assessing those physiological responses. Recent advancements in wearable technology have made it possible to monitor one or more physiological indices of heat strain. Nonetheless, information on the utility of the wearable systems available for assessing occupational heat strain is unavailable. This communication is therefore directed toward identifying the physiological indices of heat strain that may be quantified in the workplace and evaluating the wearable monitoring systems available for assessing those responses. Finally, emphasis is placed on the barriers associated with implementing these devices to assist in mitigating work-related heat injury. This information is fundamental for protecting worker health and could also be utilized to prevent heat illnesses in vulnerable people during leisure or athletic activities.

Validity of a noninvasive estimation of deep body temperature when wearing personal protective equipment during exercise and recovery

“…The ability to monitor deep body temperature in the field via noninvasive methods is a considerable advantage for managing the risk of heat-related injury in occupational settings [49, 50]. Knowledge of an individual approaching an excessive elevation in deep body temperature can be used to inform tolerance limits for work periods.…”

“…For EOD technicians, careful management of work and recovery periods is crucial to preventing heat-related injury [1, 4–7]. The implementation of wearable physiological monitoring technologies has been promoted as a way forward in enhancing workforce health during occupational heat stress [11, 49, 50]. Therefore, the approach of monitoring an easily measured physiological variable for the estimation of an important (all be it difficult to measure) indicator of heat strain (i.e., deep body temperature) may provide a balance between a validated measurement technique and practical application in occupational settings.…”

Ecological Validation and Reliability of Hexoskin Wearable Body Metrics Tool in Measuring Pre-exercise and Peak Heart Rate During Shuttle Run Test in Professional Handball Players

“…The commercially sold Hexoskin shirt (Carré Technologies Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States) is one of the most lightweight and cost-effective (Notley et al, 2018;D'souza et al, 2019) physiological telemetry devices. Hexoskin claims to provide accurate physiological and kinetic data such as heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), breathing rate (BR), and breathing volume (BV) in real-time via wireless telemetry.…”

Ethical dilemmas and validity issues related to the use of new cooling technologies and early recognition of exertional heat illness in sport

“…High individual core temperatures have been found in professional rugby players (>39.5°C) and elite cyclists (>40.5°C) without ill effects, 54 55 which illustrate the importance of understanding interindividual heat strain during exercise. Notley et al 14 have recommended using real-time monitoring of multiple physiological and perceptual strain indices rather than solely rely on core temperature to avoid EHS in occupational workers. The concurrent monitoring of physiological, biomechanical and perceptual data will likely identify EHS symptoms more accurately.…”