Dr. Jo Anne Balanay and Dr. Sinan Sousan are participating this week as presenters at the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase as part of ECU’s 15th Annual Research and Creative Achievement Week (RCAW) 2021. Their presentation video titled “Mobile App to Assess WBGT-Heat Stress Risk of Outdoor Workers” describes their app prototype that aims to provide heat stress risk information for outdoor workers. Below is the abstract of their presentation:

The use of heat stress monitors is considered the gold standard method for heat exposure assessments in occupational settings but is not always available. A readily available mobile app for heat stress risk assessment is beneficial and has been recognized and recently investigated as a potential heat stress risk mitigation and education tool for outdoor workers. However, no app currently provides such risk assessment based on the wet-bulb-globe-temperature (WBGT) index as the preferred environmental heat metric in occupational settings and on the ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) as the occupational exposure limit for heat stress. A reliable, affordable and user-friendly mobile app that will readily provide real-time heat stress risk of outdoor workers based on the WBGT index will be important in reducing occupational risk to heat stress through risk awareness and timely implementation of preventive measures. The target users for this app are outdoor workers of any age, gender, race or education, particularly those working in hot regions and during summer season, and their supervisors in occupational settings with no or limited resources or existing method for the assessment of heat stress (e.g., agriculture, construction, groundskeeping). The ultimate goal of this app is to prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths among outdoor workers due to extreme heat exposure.​

Access the 10-minute full presentation video via this YouTube link or via Symposium by ForagerOne.