Changi Airport helps workers beat the heat with refresh pods

Cool air circulated within pod, which can accommodate up to five at any one time

- Kok Yufeng

It was quite literally a cool moment for Sergeant Irman Hamid last week, when he stepped into what he described as a phone booth-like machine at a staff resting area in Changi Airport.

With the push of a button, cool air began to circulate, providing the auxiliary police officer with instant relief from the hot and muggy weather that Singapore has been experiencing of late.

"It is hotter now compared with a few years back, so this helps. You feel much better," said the 36-year-old Certis Aviation Security officer, who has worked at the airport for 10 years.

Called "refresh pods", two of these cooling contraptions were recently installed in a trial as part of new measures introduced by Changi Airport Group (CAG) to lower the risk of heat injury to workers.

Cool air is circulated within the pod for about 312 minutes each time, and the air is cleaned using a process that includes ultraviolet-light sterilisation.

Each pod is 2.5m high, can accommodate up to five workers at any one time, and operates all day.

Some 30,000 airside workers are expected to benefit from CAG's new measures.

From aircraft maintenance engineers to in-flight catering drivers, they are often exposed to the elements while carrying out their duties at runways, taxiways, hangars, ramps and the airport apron.