Poison-Detecting Watch Keeps Gas and Oil Workers Safe
If you work in the oil or gas industry, and you wear a hard hat for even part of the day, you’ve probably heard of H2S. Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable, and overall dangerous gas produced at petroleum refineries, tanneries, natural gas plants, and waste treatment facilities.
The first indication of the gas is usually a smell, similar to rotten eggs. Even in low concentrations, it will irritate the eyes and throat, or cause a headache and balance problems. Higher concentrations in areas without ventilation can knock someone unconscious. Over 1,000 parts per million, inhalation is fatal.
At sites known to produce H2S, employees usually wear plastic boxes on their vest to detect the gas. But between 2001 and 2010, exposure was still responsible for 60 worker deaths.
Now, Swiss watch company North Eagles has set that same basic sensor inside an otherwise normal-looking timepiece. If the watch detects a certain concentration of H2S, above the traces you’d find in most environments, it vibrates, blinks, and sounds a 96db alarm. If it’s linked to the worker’s phone, the alert gets filed with geolocation information, so the company can log the specific location and concentration of H2S and a response team can find the wearer.
Here's to hoping more technology like this gets out to the workers who can be saved by it.
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