Is the smart safety vest a brutal innovation? Evaluation of microclimate performance using a thermal manikin

Globally, heat stress, due to its potentially life threatening consequences, is a growing health and safety concern in the inherently dangerous construction industry. The Smart Safety Vest is a proposed 'internet of things' technological solution to the heat stress problem in the construction sector. It is also a timely response to a call by CIBs for research and innovation in wearable technologies in the industry. The innovative e-textile monitors the temperature conditions of construction workers in real time, communicates the data to the cloud, visualises the data in a web-based management system and/or wearer’s smart phone. Anomalies are detected and early warnings are provided as alerts. The technological feasibility of the system was validated through a number of iterative prototypes followed by laboratory testing and calibration processes. This paper reports the experimental procedure conducted to evaluate thermal comfort variations of the smart vest in a controlled environment prior to field testing. The smart safety vest underwent testing on a sweating mannequin in a thermal chamber. Various micro-climate scenarios were tested on different layers of protective clothing, undergarment and mannequin skin. Dry tests and wet tests were conducted with carefully chosen sweat rates and walking speeds to represent the working conditions of various construction trades on site in hot conditions. These tests showed significant variations in micro-climates under different working, clothing and environmental conditions. This research is significant because it provides initial evidence about thermal comfort and micro-climate variations, which offers useful insights for regulators where a heat index and related standards for outdoor construction work are absent. The smart safety vest has the potential to improve H&S in construction by addressing a health risk which has been increasingly recognised by regulatory bodies. The research also applies innovation in a sector that has often been criticised as a poor performer.