Workers on stadium projects for football’s 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar have been given specially-designed cooling helmets to deal with soaring temperatures during the summer months.
The solar-powered helmets, which were designed and developed by Qatar-based researchers before being tested and patented worldwide, are said to reduce the skin temperature of construction workers by up to 10 degrees centigrade.
A solar-powered fan will blow air over a cooled material on top of the helmet, which will then come down over the front of the worker’s face, providing a cooler micro-climate.
The helmets have been put through the production stage by a group of Doha-based scientists, who have cooperated with the Aspire Zone Foundation and Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, which is responsible for delivering the stadia and infrastructure for the World Cup.
“We were approached by the SC and Aspire with a challenge, and our objective was to reduce heat stress and heat strokes for workers in Qatar and the region during the summer months,” Dr Saud Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani, a professor at the College of Engineering at Qatar University, said.
"This type of body-based cooling technology has been used before in US sports for training purposes in hot states, but we have now developed this innovative solution for the construction sector and we believe it has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry in hotter areas of the world."
Researchers visited Khalifa International Stadium to measure helmet temperatures in a working environment before finalising the concept.
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