No amount of cooling technology can completely ease the burden on workers building soccer venues this summer in Qatar, site of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. But the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy continues to try to solve this, and the latest initiative comes in the form of cooling towels.
The towels can cool core temperatures for up to four hours after being submerged in water, and 9,400 of them will be provided for workers across World Cup construction sites, according to the organization overseeing the World Cup. Thus far, about 1,000 workers at Al Wakrah Stadium received them so they can wear them on their necks, arms or in their pockets to receive the cooling effect without restricting movement.
“The feedback on the towels has been very positive so far, but our investment in these cooling technologies illustrates the broader point that innovation is ingrained in everything the SC does, from improving our stadium designs to streamlining our auditing system or making workers more comfortable on-site,” Mahmoud Qutub, Senior Advisor at the SC’s Special Projects Office and head of the Workers’ Welfare Division (WWD), said in a statement.
“By acutely addressing a pressing need – reducing heat stress – at a crucial time of the year, and following the comprehensive set of improvements we have made to our accommodation standards and worker recruitment practices, this initiative truly captures the lengths we are going to in order to make sure our workforce operates in the safest conditions possible.”
The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy is also doing a pilot program at Al Wakrah Stadium involving a lightweight evaporative cooling vest that reduces heat stress and fatigue.
In December, the organization had announced that cooled helmets were being designed, developed and tested. The helmet, which can cool the wearer by up to 10 degrees Centigrade, is being rolled out to workers across construction sites.
