In early 2016, it was reported that the workers working on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar stadium were suffering “appalling treatment” by FIFA and the Qatari authorities. According to Amnesty International, the workers were forced to live in squalid accommodation, appeared to pay huge recruitment fees and had wages withheld and passports confiscated.
After much conflict with the Qatari government, FIFA, and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar was given until March to deal with labor issues or face a possible United Nations investigation.
As an effort to improve working conditions for the workers, an innovative cooled helmet has been designed by researchers in Qatar that has the potential to significantly reduce the skin temperature of the worker by up to 10 degrees centigrade.
The goal of this helmet is to provide the construction workers with safer and more comfortable working conditions in summer months.
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Dr. Saud Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani, Professor at the College of Engineering at Qatar University, explained that the technology will function by a solar-powered fan to blow air over a cooled material at the top of the helmet, which will then come down over the front of the person’s face and provide a cooler micro-climate for the worker.
“We are confident that this technology will create more comfortable and safer working conditions, and there is jus a minimal increase in weight to the helmet,” Abdul-Ghani said. “By reducing the temperature of the head and face, the rest of the body will naturally follow and ensure that workers have a constant flow of cooler air to refresh them throughout their day.”
Testing of the cooling helmet has already taken place and developers have already identified other areas in the world where the technology could be applied.
“While this technology is developed and designed in Qatar and will be first used on our sites we believe it can have a legacy which extends to many other parts of the work which have hot summer climates,” engineer Hilal Jeham Al Kuwai said. “This development also confines our commitment to utilizing to impetus of the World Cup to promote innovation and a culture of safety in our region.”
New cooled helmets from @QatarUniversity and @aspirezone will be keeping SC workers cool and safe this summer. How do they work? pic.twitter.com/mVJ8TSz4HM
— Road to 2022 (@roadto2022) December 19, 2016