Heat Exposure Safety at Worksites
Avoid heat illness and heat stroke!
Summer months means it’s time to focus on the long list of hazards facing workers in outdoor industries such as: construction, electrical, agriculture, and landscaping from rising summer temperatures.
Every year, thousands of workers suffer from heat illness, sun overexposure, and heat stress. Some have died while working in the heat.
Many workers who are exposed to heat on the job, outdoors, or in hot indoor environments increase their chance of suffering from occupational heat exposure. These illnesses and deaths are preventable by taking the following safety steps.
Employers must protect workers from excessive heat
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states that employers are responsible for providing workplaces free of known safety hazards. This also includes protecting workers form excessive heat exposure.
Labor-intensive activities in hot weather increase body temperatures beyond a level sweating cannot cool normally. The body normally cools itself by sweating.
Why is heat a hazard to workers?
Excessive exposure to heat causes a range of heat-related illnesses such as heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
During hot weather, especially with high humidity, sweating isn’t enough. Body temperatures can rise to high and dangerous levels if workers don’t drink enough water, and rest in the shade.
In 2014, there were 2,630 workers who suffered from heat illness and 18 died from heat stroke and other related causes on the job. It’s important to take precautions and watch out for illness signs.
• Workers must have water, rest, and shade.
• Allow new or returning workers to gradually increase workloads, and take frequent breaks.
• Watch out for signs of illness.
In order to prevent heat related illness and fatalities workers must:
- Drink water every 15 minutes, even if they’re not thirsty.
- Cool down by resting in the shade.
- Wear a hat and light-colored clothing.
- Keep an eye on fellow workers.
- Learn signs of heat illness, and what to do in an emergency.
Stay cool and stay hydrated
OSHA highly recommends water, rest, and shade. It is also recommended to drink an electrolyte solution. By drinking electrolytes, a person quickly restores potassium, calcium, and magnesium salts.
Those three very important steps will prevent heat stroke while working in extreme summer temperatures.
Working in direct sunlight increases heat index by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure you plan additional precautions for working under these conditions.
If a worker becomes ill, call a supervisor for help or call 911 if the condition worsens. Acting quickly can save lives!