Emirates NBD, a prominent banking Group in the area, helped workers in the UAE beat the heat this summer by distributing cooling vests at the Al Manar mall extension construction site, managed by Sun Engineering & Contracting.

Bank executives gave away 500 of the specially made vests to the employees, created to minimize the wearer's body temperature by five to 7 degrees. With cooling mechanisms and refrigeration centers being practically non-existent on most building and construction sites, the jackets are made from a submersible material that offer a cooling experience to the user on being submerged in water for a couple of minutes followed by wringing out excess water.

The bank's Business Banking unit is reaching out to its consumers to encourage application of the cooling vests across building and construction websites and camps during the summer months and has actually created an awareness video on the advantages of the vest. Vikas Thapar, Head of Business Banking at Emirates NBD commented: "We have received motivating feedback from customers and anticipate inviting partners throughout the corporate and government sectors to assist us broaden this deserving initiative and benefit the optimum number of workers."

Seen here in the pictures are workers at the Al Manar shopping mall extension building and construction site in Ras Al Khaimah using the cooling vests.