Storrs, CT — The University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute recently opened a research center dedicated to studying how extreme heat affects workers.
Equipment at UConn’s National Lab for Occupational Heat Safety can be used to explore the impact of heat, humidity, sunlight and wind on outdoor workers, a university press release states. Researchers are also able to remove oxygen from the air to simulate conditions at high altitude.
“This new facility ideally positions KSI to be a major player to increase attention and understanding of what we can do to keep workers productive and safe when they have to do jobs in the heat,” KSI CEO Douglas Casa, a kinesiology professor at UConn, said in the release.
UConn developed the lab in partnership with Magid, a personal protective equipment provider, and MISSION, an athlete-led innovator in cooling technology.
“Heat is an ever-present risk in an ever-warming climate,” Casa said, “and it’s likely going to continue increasing at an exponential pace. Each ensuing year will likely have greater risk than the year before.”
