HeatLine: Serverless Heat-Safety Reporting and Alerts for Outdoor Workers
HeatLine lets workers, volunteers and organizations report unsafe heat, scores the risk instantly, and emails responders for High and Extreme cases. It is built with Amazon API Gateway, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon SNS, and deployed on AWS Amplify.
Extreme heat is not just uncomfortable—it can quickly become a health emergency for construction workers, delivery partners, waste collectors, farmers, and street vendors. HeatLine is a serverless heat-safety reporting and alert system that helps workers, volunteers, and organizations report unsafe conditions, calculate heat risk instantly, and notify responders before a situation escalates.
The problem
On many worksites, unsafe heat conditions are noticed but not consistently recorded or acted upon. A missing water cooler, lack of shade, skipped rest breaks, or early symptoms of heat stress may be known locally, yet never reach the person who can arrange support.
HeatLine addresses this gap by creating a simple, structured path from observation to action. It is designed for:
- Workers who need to report their own working conditions.
- Supervisors, volunteers, and family members who can report on behalf of workers using basic phones.
- Students, NGOs, unions, and community groups who want to document unsafe sites and request corrective action.
How HeatLine works
HeatLine supports three reporting modes, ensuring that workers without smartphones are not excluded:
Mode | Who uses it | What it captures |
|---|---|---|
Worker self-report | A worker with a smartphone | Work type, location, temperature, humidity, water access, shade, rest breaks, and symptoms |
Phone-assisted report | A supervisor, volunteer, or family member | A report filed for a worker with a basic phone, including consent and reporter details |
Organization report | Students, NGOs, unions, and community groups | Organization details, assigned fixer, required action, and site information |
Every submission becomes a structured report that can be scored, stored, searched, and escalated.
From report to alert
The reporting workflow is intentionally simple:
- The user selects a reporting mode.
- The user enters worksite details and current heat conditions.
- AWS Lambda calculates a heat-risk score.
- The report is stored in Amazon DynamoDB.
- High or Extreme risk reports trigger an Amazon SNS email alert.
This ensures that a report does not remain just a complaint—it becomes actionable information.
Instant heat-risk scoring
HeatLine evaluates six factors: temperature, humidity, availability of drinking water, shade or rest area, recent rest break, and worker symptoms. Symptoms receive significant weight because dizziness, weakness, or fainting can indicate heat exhaustion.
Risk level | Score | System response |
|---|---|---|
Low | 0–34 | Report is saved |
Moderate | 35–54 | Report is saved |
High | 55–74 | Report is saved and an email alert is sent |
Extreme | 75+ | Report is saved and an urgent email alert is sent |
For example, a worker reports 41°C temperature, 75% humidity, no drinking water, no shade, no recent break, and heat-stress symptoms. The combined score is 130, placing the report in the Extreme category and triggering an immediate alert.
Serverless architecture
HeatLine is built using fully serverless AWS services, reducing operational overhead while allowing the platform to scale with demand.
Layer | Technology | Role |
|---|---|---|
Frontend | Streamlit | Simple reporting interface |
API layer | Amazon API Gateway | Secure HTTPS endpoint for report submission |
Backend | AWS Lambda | Validates input, calculates risk, and processes reports |
Database | Amazon DynamoDB | Stores every report in the HeatReports table |
Alerts | Amazon SNS | Sends alerts for High and Extreme risk |
Hosting | AWS Amplify | Builds and hosts the application |
The request flow is:
Streamlit → Amazon API Gateway → AWS Lambda → Amazon DynamoDB / Amazon SNS The application source code is connected to GitHub, so every push to the main branch automatically triggers a build and deployment. This makes it easy to iterate quickly while maintaining a reliable release process.
Impact
HeatLine helps ensure that unsafe heat conditions are visible, documented, and acted upon. Workers can raise concerns quickly, helpers can report on behalf of those without smartphones, and organizations gain a clear record of what needs to be fixed.
- Reports unsafe heat conditions in seconds
- Includes workers without smartphones through assisted reporting
- Converts field observations into searchable records
- Sends immediate alerts for high-risk situations
- Supports accountability through assigned fixers and action tracking
What comes next
The current prototype simulates call and SMS reporting while allowing a helper to file a report on a worker’s behalf. Planned improvements include:
- SMS and IVR reporting for basic-phone users
- Support for Tamil, Hindi, and other local languages
- A fixer dashboard for open, in-progress, and resolved reports
- Location-based heat-risk mapping
- Automatic weather-data integration
- Escalation to supervisors, NGOs, and local authorities
HeatLine ensures every worker has a way to be heard—and every high-risk report can trigger timely action.
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