Cal/OSHA - Tips for Helping Employees Work Safely, Minimize Heat Stress

What can I do to protect my employees from the effects of working in high temperatures?

When employees work in hot conditions, employers must take special precautions in order to prevent heat illness. Heat illness can progress to heat stroke and be fatal, especially when emergency treatment is delayed. Operations involving high air temperatures, radiant heat sources, high humidity, direct physical contact with hot objects, or  strenuous physical activities have a high potential for inducing heat stress in employees engaged in such operations. During the summer, workers employed in outside jobs such as construction and agriculture are subjected to many of these conditions and, for those who ignore the signs and symptoms, can become victims of a heat stress incident. According to Cal/OSHA, heat illness contributed to 12 work-related deaths in 2005 and eight in 2006. It has been well publicized that Cal/OSHA has adopted regulations for outdoor workers to address the employer’s responsibility to ensure that employees are provided means to counter the effects of working in high temperatures. These requirements, Heat Illness Prevention in Outdoor Places of Employment, are contained in Section 3395 of the General Industry Safety Orders.

Injury/Illness Prevention Plan

Employers are required to put their heat illness prevention procedures, including employee training, in writing. It is recommended this document be incorporated into the employer’s injury and illness prevention plan (IIPP). Training, at a minimum should include: l why it is important to prevent heat illness; l procedures for acclimatization; l the need to drink water frequently; l the need to take breaks out of the heat; l how to recognize the symptoms of heat illness; l how to contact emergency services and how to effectively report the work location to 911; l the importance of choosing water instead of soda or other caffeinated beverages and avoiding alcoholic beverages all together during high heat.

Signs to Recognize

There are several “causal factors” that may affect a person’s sensitivity to heat. Age, weight, degree of physical fitness, degree of acclimatization, metabolism, use of alcohol or drugs, and a variety of medical conditions such as hypertension, all affect a person’s sensitivity to heat. Even the type of clothing worn must be considered. Prior heat injury predisposes an individual to additional injury. Four conditions must be recognized by supervisors of employees potentially exposed to heat stress: Heat rash or prickly heat, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. The Cal/OSHA website, HRCalifornia and CalChamber booklets contain detailed descriptions and symptoms of heat stress-related illnesses with intervention treatments. Specific measures that can be adopted to lessen the likelihood of a heat stress illness include: l administrative controls, such as work rotation, starting work early in the morning or in the evening; l providing plenty of fluids to drink, especially water; and l providing personal protective equipment in the form of cooling vests and light-colored or reflective clothing and/or shade.

Heat Risks

There is no absolute cut-off below which work in heat is not a risk. With heavy work at high relative humidity or if workers are wearing protective clothing, even work at 70 degrees Fahrenheit can present a risk. In the relative humidity levels (20 percent to 40 percent) often found in hot areas of California, employers need to take some actions to effectively reduce heat illness risk when temperatures approach 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is especially important to be vigilant during periods of abnormally high heat. Even though Section 3395 is specific to outdoor workers, the requirements can be useful to all employers who have employees subject to working in/at a work site where the temperature/humidity can result in heat illness — for example, poorly ventilated warehouses, work processes exposing employees to high temperatures and/or humidity such as foundries or glass bottle manufactures, construction sites, etc. Heat illness is a foreseeable hazard as defined and enforced by Cal/OSHA.

Using Section 3395, employers can address the conditions within a building or permanent work site and prevent the occurrence of heat illness. As stated previously, the steps taken should be included in the company’s IIPP.

More Information

Cal/OSHA has published informational documents at www.dir.ca.gov. Click on “Heat Illness Prevention” under “What’s new.” CalChamber members can find information on heat illness by searching on “heat illness” at www.hrcalifornia.com. In addition, the CalChamber has developed a mini-book, Heat Illness Prevention in California. It is written in both English and Spanish and has readily understood illustrations of the outward symptoms of heat illness. For information on obtaining this booklet, call (800) 331-8877 or visit www.calbizcentral.com.

Article Provided by: volume 34, number 18 ● June 6, 2008 of the CalChamber Alert Newsletter. And written by Mel Davis - Cal/OSHA Consultant