It Feels Like A High Heat Index

Have you ever looked at the difference between the temperature versus the “feels like” temperature? Well that “feels like” temperature is also known as Heat Index. Heat Index is “what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.” Heat Index is becoming increasingly more important to people’s health and safety as temperatures around the world are getting hotter and hotter. Measuring and managing Heat Index is absolutely critical to the physical comfort and safe wellbeing of your employees, customers and anyone else who steps foot in your facilities.

How Bad Can It Be?

A high Heat Index that is not being monitored and controlled is dangerous and can even be deadly. Severe heat can cause issues much worse than just physical discomfort. It can lead to problems with brain function, productivity, mood and more. Some examples of serious health and safety concerns related to Heat Index are

• Faintness
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Muscle cramps
• Low blood pressure
• Confusion
• Nausea
• Headache

At 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius), fatigue is possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity. At 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), heat stroke, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion is possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity. According to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, “Record-breaking heat in the U.S. in 2021 endangered millions of workers exposed to heat illness and injury in both indoor and outdoor work environments.”

Heat is the leading cause of death among all weather-related workplace hazards which is why OSHA implemented a nationwide enforcement initiative on heat-related hazards. OSHA will soon be requiring specific standards for hazardous heat conditions, and employers may be mandated to monitor Heat Index to ensure their employee safety.

Monitoring Heat Index With Room Alert

Environment monitoring with Room Alert is the easiest and most effective way to oversee all of the environmental conditions in your facility. For Heat Index in particular, Room Alert has a Digital Temperature & Humidity Sensor. The Digital Temperature & Humidity Sensor is a 4 in 1 that monitors temperature, humidity, dew point and heat index. This sensor has a special enclosure cap to promote increased air circulation which results in fast and accurate readings of the conditions in your environment. With this single sensor, you can prevent up to 50% of all causes of environment-related downtime. 

The best way to measure how the Heat Index is impacting people is through thermal comfort. Thermal comfort is “the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment and is evaluated by subjective evaluation.” Heat index levels of 86-104 degrees Fahrenheit (30–40 degrees Celsius) will result in some physical discomfort. Heat index of 104-113 degrees Fahrenheit (40–45 degrees Celsius) will lead to great discomfort. Heat index of > 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) is considered dangerous and can cause significant health and safety threats.

Keeping Your People Healthy & Safe

It is critical to effective facilities management to understand how potentially fatal a high Heat Index can be to those in and around your facilities. Room Alert is the best in environment monitoring and with thousands of customers across over 185 countries, you can have confidence in knowing that Room Alert is protecting your people, assets, facilities and reputation. To learn more about how you can keep your employees and residents safe, check out this article.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about monitoring Heat Index with Room Alert, please contact us today through email at Sales@AVTECH.com, through our online Live Chat service, or via phone 401.628.1600. 

You can also visit our YouTube Channel and read our articles here to learn many other reasons why you need Proactive Environment Monitoring with Room Alert.