As back-to-back summer heatwaves scorch Spain, Barcelona is turning to wearable tech to protect its workforce from the front lines of climate change. The city has begun issuing smart, heat-monitoring bracelets to approximately 1,400 outdoor employees, including street cleaners, waste management crews, lighting technicians, and park workers.
The devices serve as an automated early warning system. By constantly measuring the wearer’s body temperature, the bracelet will immediately vibrate and sound an alarm if it detects that the worker’s health is at risk. Once the alert triggers, the employee is required to stop working and seek shade or cool down, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
The initiative follows a grim June that saw more than 1,000 excess heat-related deaths across Spain, which just endured its second-hottest June on record. The urgency of the rollout is deeply tied to a history of rising occupational risks during European summers:
Tragic precursors: A 51-year-old street sweeper died in Barcelona last June during a 30.4°C (86.7°F) spike, pushing city officials to accelerate worker safety plans.
Aggressive climate shifts: City officials note that the tech is a direct response to increasingly hostile summer climates that make traditional outdoor labor dangerous.
Supervisor anxiety: Team leaders face growing pressure to protect staff from heatstroke, with weather agencies warning of yet another major heatwave looming over the weekend.
By integrating biometrics into daily shifts, Barcelona is hoping to establish a new safety standard for city operations as summers grow increasingly volatile.