HeatDose
An indicative heat-strain awareness record for outdoor crews, from the sensor already on your worker’s wrist. HeatDose reads relative to each worker’s own baseline: for awareness and record-keeping, never a work/rest decision-maker.
elevated relative to baseline, 12:00–14:30 · no active session before 07:00
The regulatory reality, plainly
There’s no legislated heat-exposure standard in Australia, unlike the UV index or the 85 dB(A) LAeq,8h noise limit. Heat is governed by the general duty of care and Safe Work Australia’s guide to managing the risks of working in heat. That’s not a gap in the law: it’s the reason a heat record has to stay honestly indicative, with no bright line to measure against, only a duty to identify the hazard, monitor it, and respond.
Accepted heat-related workers comp claims, 2009–10 to 2018–19
1774
Safe Work Australia data recorded over that decade; the large majority from working in the sun.
H&S reps reporting heat-related workplace impacts
43%
A national survey of 222 health and safety representatives found this share report heat or humidity affecting the job sometimes or often (Varghese et al., 2020).
Risk multiplier during a heatwave
4–7×
Workplace heat-related risk measured 4 to 7 times higher during a heatwave than on non-heatwave days (Xiang et al., Occupational and Environmental Medicine).
What HeatDose actually does
HeatDose is not a medical device. It doesn’t diagnose, doesn’t estimate core body temperature, and doesn’t decide anyone’s fitness for work. It gives you an indicative record built for awareness, with decisions resting with the employer and any qualified person engaged for a formal assessment.
An indicative strain signal, not a core-temperature reading
Built from Apple Watch heart rate during an active work session, read relative to the worker's own resting baseline. HeatDose never estimates or displays core body temperature.
Estimated heat load, not a lab measurement
Fuses Bureau of Meteorology data into an estimated heat-load figure for the site, using a physics-based model from the published literature. Estimated, not measured.
A nudge, never an instruction
A worker gets an observation and a suggestion: water, shade, a break. HeatDose never issues a stop-work order and never determines fitness for work.
A record for your due-diligence file
Every nudge and every worker response is timestamped into the exposure record: a process for receiving and considering hazard information, the kind s27 due diligence asks for.
Acknowledge, don’t verify
When a nudge fires, a worker taps Done, Snooze, or Dismiss, each timestamped into the record. HeatDose doesn’t try to verify the action: no photo proof, no check-up. That trust-based self-attestation mirrors the sunscreen logging already in UVDose and the paper hydration checklists it replaces.
Individual acknowledgement history stays worker-visible only. What you see is an aggregate engagement figure across your workforce: due-diligence evidence with no individual detail attached.
Where HeatDose doesn’t fit yet
A wrist-worn optical sensor can’t read core body temperature, and background heart rate is sparse outside an active work session. Estimated heat load from weather data is not the same as a reading from a calibrated heat-stress meter. We say so upfront rather than imply otherwise.