NFSHW24: Using a Novel App Prototype to Assess Heat Stress Risk Among Outdoor Workers

Summary: Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index is the preferred environmental heat metric for heat-related illness (HRI) prevention in the workplace and is typically measured using a heat stress monitor. Measuring the on-site WBGT with a heat stress monitor provides the most accurate localized assessment of a worker’s environmental heat exposure. However, WBGT data may not always be easily accessible for worksite heat stress evaluation.

The OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool, a mobile app that provides current and forecasted heat index and its corresponding risk, has been considered as an alternative tool for assessing environmental heat metrics in the workplace but was found to be inaccurate in assessing high and extreme heat stress risks at any workload type. Thus, there is still a need for alternative WBGT-based tools, such as well-designed mobile apps, that are more accessible and cheaper for HRI prevention among outdoor workers. A novel web app prototype was developed at East Carolina University to calculate the current and forecasted WBGT index for a specific location as a promising tool for HRI prevention among outdoor workers, but it has not been tested for accuracy. This course intends to explain the findings of a research study that assessed the reliability of a WBGT app prototype in providing accurate heat stress risk information for outdoor workers in eastern North Carolina. 

Intended Audience: This course is intended for farmworkers and other outdoor workers, farmers and other outdoor worker supervisors and managers, and occupational health and safety professionals. 

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to…

1. Understand the importance of using wet-bulb-globe temperature (WBGT) index as an environmental heat metric for heat stress exposure assessment 
2. Understand how a heat stress assessment mobile app estimates the outdoor WBGT index using weather data 
3. Understand the comparison and correlation between WBGT index measured by a heat stress monitor and WBGT index calculated by the WBGT app prototype 

Presenter: Jo Anne G. Balanay, PhD, CIH
Professor, East Carolina University

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