Glossary
Quick reference of the terms used in the ION Guard Cold Room documentation.
Recovery area Zone designated for thermal breaks, where the worker warms up before returning to the cold room. The system automatically starts the break timer when a worker with active exposure enters that zone.
Beacon BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) device carried by the worker — it can be a badge, wristband, or pendant. It transmits a radio signal picked up by the antennas, letting the system know which zone the worker is in.
Hash chain Integrity mechanism where each report stores the SHA-256 hash of the previous report, forming a verifiable chain. If any intermediate report is altered, the chain breaks.
Cold room Refrigerated environment with an artificially reduced temperature, used for storing or processing products. In the context of the system, it is a zone configured with a declared temperature and an exposure regime.
CLT Art. 253 Article of the Consolidation of Labor Laws that establishes a minimum break of 20 minutes for every 1 hour and 40 minutes of continuous work in artificially cold environments. Basis for the system's default exposure regime.
Compliance State in which all NR-15 and NR-36 rules were met during a work shift. A shift is considered compliant when it has no recorded violations.
Shift consolidation Automatic process run daily (at 02:00 UTC) that evaluates whether each shift from the previous day met the requirements of NR-36, checking the total breaks taken against the minimum required for the work schedule.
Countdown Countdown shown on the worker's timer, indicating the time remaining until reaching the regime's exposure limit. Different from the progressive timer, which counts the time already elapsed.
Continuous exposure Uninterrupted period a worker stays inside a cold room, measured from entry to exit. The maximum continuous exposure limit is defined by the applicable temperature regime.
Accumulated exposure Sum of all continuous exposure periods of a worker in a single shift. Used to calculate the breaks required by NR-36.
SHA-256 hash Cryptographic algorithm that generates a 256-bit "fingerprint" from the content of a document. Any change to the content, however small, produces a completely different hash.
Work schedule Duration of the employee's work shift, registered in hours (e.g.: 8.8h for an 8h48 shift). This value is used by the system to determine the total thermal breaks required by NR-36.
NR-15 Regulatory Standard 15 — Unhealthy Activities and Operations. Annex 9 deals specifically with exposure to cold, defining tolerance limits and classification of unhealthiness by temperature range.
NR-36 Regulatory Standard 36 — Occupational Safety and Health in Companies that Slaughter and Process Meat and Derivatives. Item 36.7 defines accumulated thermal breaks per shift, and items 36.12.1 to 36.12.4 establish requirements for cold rooms.
Thermal break Mandatory interval for a worker's thermal recovery after exposure to cold. To be considered valid, the break must last for a time equal to or greater than the regime's minimum (usually 20 or 30 minutes) and be taken in a recovery area.
Blind spot Situation in which an antenna in a cold room zone goes offline (no communication) while there are workers with active sessions inside the zone. The system loses visibility and cannot confirm the workers' location.
Temperature regime Set of exposure rules associated with a temperature range: maximum continuous exposure limit and minimum break duration. The system implements three regimes: light (0 to -17.9°C), moderate (-18 to -27.9°C), and severe (-28 to -80°C).
Exposure session Record of a worker entering a cold room, with start and end timestamps, calculated duration, and a flag indicating whether the limit was exceeded. Multiple sessions can make up a single continuous exposure (when the worker moves between rooms without a break).
Shift An employee's work period in a day. It is the unit of analysis for NR-36 compliance. It can be recorded via an electronic time clock or inferred automatically by the system based on activity.
Violation Record of noncompliance with a regulatory rule. The system records 6 types: Continuous Exposure Exceeded, Shift Total Exceeded, Insufficient Break, Break Not Taken, Cold Room Signal Lost, and Blind Spot During Session. Violations are immutable and can be resolved with an explanatory note.
Wallboard Full-screen panel designed for display on TVs and monitors on the shop floor. It shows large exposure timers (at the room entrance) or break timers (in the recovery area), visible from a distance by workers and supervisors.