Being outside, let alone working outside, in intense heat can lead to heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Employees who work outdoors in the summer performing maintenance work such as yard work, road construction and sanitation are likely to develop heat exhaustion when spending hours under the scorching sun. Now a Chinese company has developed a solution to help keep workers cool.
Sanitation workers in Nanjing, China, continue their work wearing cooling vests. Instead of bringing a portable fan or using another tool to stay cool, workers wear the device like a vest. It has two built-in mini fans that provide continuous airflow while workers work in the summer heat. The device is used during China’s Sanfu season, the hottest days of the year in the country. The vests are designed to operate for several hours at a time, ensuring workers have enough fresh air to get through their morning and afternoon shifts.
Cooling clothing is specially designed to help sanitation workers avoid heat-related illnesses and heatstroke. Reports show that thousands of workers are suffering from heat-related illnesses, many of which are fatal. Cooling vests are a step toward preventing potential illness and death among outdoor workers. It’s a great way to stay cool in the summer heat.
How These Air Conditioning Vests Work
At first glance, cooling vests look like a standard orange reflective uniform that you might see road crews wearing. Looking closer, the vests contain two mini fans near the middle portion of the device. The fans have three speeds to control the amount of power produced by each. It works like a ceiling fan: higher speeds move more air and lower speeds move less. Regardless of the setting, fans circulate air inside the vest, distributing it throughout the body and cooling the wearer. The fans are powered by compact rechargeable batteries that last up to four hours and can be recharged during a lunch break, after which they can be used for an additional four hours.
Workers who have tried the cooling vests say they felt cool air blowing around their bodies. They’re also built with quiet fans so workers don’t have to hear a whirring fan while doing their job. The vests are not only worn by sanitation workers, as the urban management department sells them throughout the city of Nanjing. Soon it might even spread nationally as it becomes more popular.
There are several types of cooling vests
This cooling vest is not the only one, as other innovative cooling technologies are also put to good use. Other types of cooling vests use different mechanisms to cool the wearer. Evaporative cooling vests use a gel-like material that captures and retains moisture inside. They are dipped in ice water before being worn. Once in place, they use heat to evaporate the gel and water to cool the wearer. Phase-change cooling vests – like those in Changzhou, Jiangsu province – use frozen cooling packs placed in pockets inside the vest to assist sanitation workers. Passive cooling vests and hybrid cooling vests work the same way, while liquid cooling vests include channels for chilled water to pass through.
If you plan to work outside and need a way to cool down, you can try portable cooling devices. You can take cooling vests, fans and misters with you. Whether you’re at work, doing a little gardening, enjoying an outdoor event, or playing a sport, there are tools you can use to help you stay cool.
