Keep Cool: Design & Engineering

I recently ran across a product that is outside my normal focus in writing these columns, but I believe it can impact how work gets done on the shop floor. It is a vest for workers to wear that has the ability to lower a person’s body temperature. It is called the StaCool Vest and is made by StaCool Industries in Lecanto, Florida. Those folks know first-hand about hot, humid conditions. Even in Massachusetts, where I am located, there are days when the outside temperature and humidity are over 90° F. And with the machines cranking out heat it can get really uncomfortable on the shop floor. Sweat running down my face and fogging up my safety glasses is a nuisance that increases the likelihood of making a costly mistake, particularly troublesome if you happen to be running an expensive machine tool at the time.

Being a nosey guy, I dug deeper into vests to keep the body cool. There are a number of products on the market, ranging in price from $60 to $250. The lowest cost vests are soaked in water, and then you put them on. The water evaporates to keep you cool. Not very effective if the humidity is over 95%. Some vests have pouches for holding ice. The ice melts and you are cool or cold. The medium-priced vests employ gel packs that change phase to cool the body. They are marketed as “phase change vests” and employ gel that is both toxic and flammable. I personally don’t like the idea of wearing something that can burst into flames. These vests have given the “phase change” label a bad reputation. That is curious because when water evaporates or ice turns to water, those are also phase changes. Marketing is about perception.

Then there are the StaCool Vests. They are among the high-end products. They also employ gel packs between layers of fabric. But their patented technology uses gel that is both non-toxic and non-flammable. In fact, this gel pack has been approved by the FDA to be in contact with food. That is a plus if your lunch is in the fridge. The vest weighs 6 lbs. and the gel packs are designed to last three hours in Florida. The vest comes with two sets of gel packs so a user can leave one in the fridge to shed heat while the other set is in the vest doing its job.

By keeping a worker’s torso comfortable, the rest of his body is comfortable, and no sweat is running down his face.

The photo is of the StaCool industrial vest. They have a variety of styles. They also make vests with fire retardant fabric. I think welders or firefighters would like that.

This reminds me of my search for coolant to use in my machine tools back in the 1980s. I had dermatitis problems with various coolants. Those problems ended when I found Rustlick WS500A. I have stuck with that stuff ever since.

It is a good idea to keep workers comfortable. It is also a good idea to keep them healthy.