Transcript

Al: Welcome everybody, to Radio Free Tenacity, the Voice of Workers Safety. You're joining us today inside of a food processing plant, where dangers abound really. We're talking slips and trips. We're talking sprains and strains. And not the least of which heat stress. Now, when do you think about heat stress, it's common to think about outdoor heat stress right, out in the sun and the swelter. But in places like foundries, paper mills and food processing plants such as this one, indoor heat stress is a major factor. So much so, in fact, that in states like Minnesota, for example, there are indoor heat stress regulations in place. Now, of course, the best way to mitigate heat stress is to get rid of it altogether or separate the worker from the risk. So we're talking about things like improved air conditioning and ventilation or, say, separating workers from heavy machinery, radiating excess heat. But also PPE has a role to play in this. And one of the most popular forms of cooling PPE uses what we call evaporative cooling technology. However, in an indoor heat stress setting, that might not always be appropriate, right? Because evaporative cooling technology needs constant ventilation to charge its cooling properties. So to answer the question of what cooling PPE is appropriate for indoor heat stress, we're going to head back to Ergodyne HQ and talk to product expert Lexi Engelbart, who's going to give us the lowdown on indoor heat stress cooling PPE.

All right, we're back here at Ergodyne HQ along with Lexi Engelbart. She is our in-house heat stress expert. Lexi, thanks again for joining us. You know, we already teased some of the administrative and engineering controls that go with indoor heat stress. I was wondering if cooling PPE could be used indoors as well.

Lexi: Yeah. So a lot of the times we talk about heat stress in an outdoor context. The weather, what's going on outside? There are a lot of people that work in maybe not climate controlled indoor environments, or they're working around hot machinery. We develop a ton of solutions that can be used indoors as well. You know, a lot of our products are very dependent on airflow, humidity, environmental conditions. But we've got a line of products as well that works in kind of any conditions. And that's going to be phase change cooling.

Al: Okay. All right. So what exactly is phase change cooling then?

Lexi: Yeah. So a lot of people think phase change kind of is like an ice pack. It looks and performs very similar to an ice pack. However, it's actually formulated to stay at 64°F.

Al: Okay.

Lexi: That's kind of a random number, so our body is going to be 98.6°F. You know, if we think about just plunging into an ice plunge, that's not going to be comfortable, you know, to wear throughout your workday or something like that. We formulate these, phase change packs to stay at 64 degrees for up to four hours. That's going to be a really kind of natural, normal way to cool your body temperature down versus a shock to the system that an ice pack might carry.

Al: For sure, for sure. Then maybe you can run over some of the simple differences between, what we call evaporative cooling. So that's when you were mentioning you need airflow, and that sort of thing. What's the difference, then, between evaporative cooling and phase change cooling?

Lexi: Yeah. So kind of exactly how it sounds. Evaporative cooling requires evaporation, so airflow is really, really crucial. if you've got a high level of humidity, that's going to make it really hard for the product to perform at its best. So phase change is kind of agnostic of humidity and environment. So again, this is the phase change pack when it's activated. So it's going to be more, opaque white. Once it starts to liquify and it'll get a little more clear. That means this just needs to be activated again so you can throw it in the fridge, the freezer or the quickest way is going to be a cooler full of ice water.

Al: Okay. Excellent. And you mentioned environmental impacts. It doesn't doesn't phase the phase change product. is this good then, to wear under PPE?

Lexi: Absolutely. So again, airflow is not needed. Humidity is not a factor in this. So we're going to be really, really great to wear under maybe coveralls a Tyvek suit. Again, it's lower profile, so it's not going to take up a ton of room underneath the suit. Going to be a really slick option if you have to wear an outer layer of PPE.

Al: Okay. Awesome. You touched on some of the things already, in terms of what's the difference between this and just using ice, right. So I mean, you have a much more comfortable, temperature up against your skin, right. Are there any other benefits of using phase change over ice?

Lexi: Yeah. I mean, phase change is going to be completely reusable. So you can activate that as many times as you need. Ice, whether, you know, unless it's in a carrier of some sort, it's going to melt.

Al: Yep, tends to do that.

Lexi: You know, you can drink the water, I suppose that's... stay hydrated. Absolutely. But that phase change is going to be completely reusable.

Al: Okay. Awesome. Any other any other things to add to, you know, phase change cooling and what people might need to know about it?

Lexi: Yeah. So again, all of our products are, you know, depending on the environment that you're working in. So the amount of work you're doing, if you're in the sunlight. If you're in a climate controlled area. So that's just something to keep in mind about the duration of any of our cooling products. It's going to be dependent on your situation.

Al: Got it. Got it. Well, thanks again for joining us, Lexi. Appreciate it. Thanks to everybody out there watching and listening. if you do want to learn more about phase change cooling solutions, head on over to ergodyne.com and in search “phase change”. Thanks again for watching, listening and stay safe out there people.