How to Prevent Heat Illness in Workers Using Heavy PPE or Masks

Bryan Slaven , ,

Heat illness is a threat to any worker laboring in elevated temperatures, but it tends to be more intense with a faster onset in workers using heavy personal protective equipment (PPE) or masks. This has been confirmed by OSHA and CDC, which points out that personal protective equipment increases heat illness risks because:

  • PPE traps environmental and exertion-related heat close to the body
  • PPE often interferes with the body’s ability to remove heat by sweating
  • PPE is heavier and therefore requires more exertion to move (which produces heat)

Any piece of PPE can increase heat illness risks, including certain aprons, gowns and caps, face shields, masks, respirators, gloves and boots. If your workers need this equipment to perform their jobs safely, it’s important to prioritize heat safety.

Heat Risks When Workers are Wearing Heavy PPE or Masks

Heavy PPE and masks elevate heat illness risks on their own, but there are additional environmental and work factors that can exacerbate these risks. They include:

  • Isolated heat sources like commercial ovens and furnaces
  • Trapped interior heat, which can emerge from many sources, including windows
  • High-effort work and exertion
  • Poor access to water and shade

For employers, the mission is to control these risk factors and provide workers with safer conditions.

Five Ways to Prevent Heat Illness in Workers Using Heavy PPE or Masks

Heat illness is a potential killer if it isn’t accounted for and if preventative measures aren’t put in place. Those preventative measures may include the following:

  • Provide personnel with the right monitoring tools – Heat risks climb with the temperature, so it’s important for onsite personnel to track it. When certain temperature thresholds are reached, protective measures may be implemented to protect workers.
    A popular option is to equip workers with TWIC cards that are fitted with liquid crystal thermometer (LCT) technology. LCTs provide an accurate temperature reading quickly, and they weigh next to nothing, so they can be worn or carried with ease. TWIC cards with LCTs can also be branded with company marks or printed with important reminders (like emergency procedures).
  • Increase monitoring when workers are wearing PPE – If workers must wear PPE, safety personnel should increase their vigilance and be ready to check worker vitals more often. And workers must be encouraged to watch each other when the heat is on. Workers wearing PPE should never be on their own.
    Part of this vigilance involves training workers to notice the signs of heat illness. Those signs include weakness, loss of coordination, confusion, slurred speech, nausea and vomiting, elevated body temperature, and in severe cases, loss of consciousness. If any of these signs are present in a heat-stressed worker, your personnel should notice it immediately and be ready to implement emergency procedures.
  • Implement additional work and water breaks – When workers are wearing PPE, they’ll sweat more, and they won’t cool off as easily when they do sweat. To counter this additional heat stress, your safety personnel should require additional water breaks. Adequate hydration is the surest protective measure against heat illness, but workers often neglect to drink enough water unless it’s prioritized. Reinforce this with your supervisors so it becomes part of the expected safety routine.
  • Establish a cool area that’s always ready for workers – Heat illness is 100 percent preventable and easy to avoid if you prepare for it. Part of that preparation is setting up a cooling station in a shaded (preferably interior) setting. This spot should be cool and have access to cool running water, along with your other heat safety resources.
    If a worker develops heat illness, this is where they should be moved to and treated until the acute heat risks have passed.
  • Have an heat safety emergency action plan in place for heat-related emergencies – It’s too late to plan for an emergency once the emergency occurs. Instead, your organization should have an emergency action plan (EAP) ready to go if a worker does experience heat illness.
    An EAP should include a list of all onsite heat safety resources (cold wraps, electrolyte tablets, etc.) and a list of emergency steps that personnel should take. This includes where to take the afflicted person for treatment and what medical facility to contact for further treatment. Heat illness will progress rapidly if treatment is not administered right away, so workers should know exactly what to do, and when.

Heavy PPE is a Heat Risk That Can Be Mitigated with the Right Safety Measures

Heat illness can leave workers with permanent, potentially fatal complications, and the risk of experiencing heat illness climbs with PPE use. However, there are safety processes that employers can implement to protect those vulnerable workers. They include equipping workers with heat tracking tools (like LCT-modified TWIC cards), ramping up monitoring efforts, implementing additional water breaks and developing a heat-specific emergency action plan. By taking these critical steps, you can minimize worksite heat hazards and shield your employees from dangerous heat illness.

Recognizing Heat Stress on the Jobsite

Bryan Slaven , ,

Heat stress is a constant threat on many worksites, including interior jobsites where the sun may not be a concern. Commercial ovens, furnaces, industrial machinery, and even large windows are thermal energy sources which can expose workers to elevated heat stress.

If your worksite contains heat hazards like these, your safety personnel and your employees should be able to recognize heat stress while on the job. Heat illness can be successfully treated if it’s identified early, and that means understanding what heat stress looks like and how it affects workers.

What are the Signs of Heat Stress?

Hundreds of thousands of workers experience some form of heat illness every year. This includes milder issues like heat cramps or heat rash, and serious, potentially life-threatening heat illnesses like heat exhaustion or heat stroke. It’s especially important for workers and safety personnel to respond quickly if someone onsite develops heat exhaustion, which presents with the following symptoms:

  • Skin that’s cool and clammy – goosebumps are common even in the sun
  • Fatigue
  • Faintness and dizziness
  • Nausea or feeling sick
  • Muscle cramps
  • Headache
  • Blood pressure dysregulation

These symptoms may develop quickly, or they may emerge slowly. In either case, if the above symptoms of heat illness are present, the affected worker must be removed from any thermal stresses and treated – potentially at a medical facility.

If heat exhaustion isn’t addressed promptly, it may progress to heat stroke, which presents with many of the same symptoms as heat stress, like headache, cramps and nausea. However, since heat stroke is a late-stage version of heat illness, its symptoms are more severe and may include:

  • Altered mental state, such as confusion, irritability or delirium
  • Loss of consciousness or loss of muscle control
  • Rapid, shallow breathing
  • Rapid, weak pulse
  • Extremely high body temperature (in excess of 104 degrees Fahrenheit)

Heat stroke is a medical emergency that can quickly progress to permanent or fatal complications if not addressed. Specifically, medical experts urge treatment within 30 minutes of developing heat stroke, as this will greatly reduce the risk of developing permanent disabilities.

How to Respond to Heat Stress on the Jobsite

The first step in protecting workers is ensuring everyone knows what heat stress looks like, including safety personnel, supervisors and workers. The second step is having an emergency action plan (EAP) in place to mitigate heat illness when it does appear. Every EAP should be tailored to the jobsite to ensure maximum effectiveness and typically includes the following:

  • A review of all identified hazards on the worksite – Every EAP includes a list or diagram of all potential hazards on the jobsite. Some EAPs specify every hazard, such as falls or vehicle traffic, while others are hazard specific. Some employers develop a heat-specific EAP if there are several heat sources or heat traps present. This can improve awareness of those heat hazards and facilitate preventative measures.
  • An inventory of all onsite heat safety resources – To treat or prevent heat illness, safety personnel should have some basic resources on hand, like cool wraps or cooling gaiters, electrolyte tablets and access to cool, clean water. Your EAP should detail what resources are available onsite and where those resources are located for rapid response purposes.
  • A list of heat safety procedures to mitigate potential heat hazards – Employers mitigate the risk of heat stress by implementing different work rotations, increasing the number or frequency of breaks or through other dynamic safety measures. These should be detailed in the EAP and integrated into your training approach.
  • A list of emergency medical procedures to enact in response to heat illness – If a heat-related emergency does occur, your EAP should clearly lay out the appropriate response. This includes emergency treatment protocols such as where to take the affected worker, who to contact, what to do to reduce the worker’s body temperature, and so on. Your supervisors will reference the EAP in an emergency scenario, so be as detailed here as possible.
  • Contact information for all relevant parties – In the event of an emergency, there are several parties to contact for treatment and reporting purposes. This includes a nearby medical facility where the affected worker will be taken to for treatment. It also includes contact information for any supervisors or safety personnel responsible for enforcing heat safety measures.

Three Steps Employers Can Take to Reduce Heat Stress on the Jobsite

In addition to developing an EAP, employers can take a few basic steps to ensure their worksite is guarded against heat stress, including:

  • Equipping workers with heat monitoring tools – Field workers are typically at the highest risk of heat stress, so many employers focus on them first. And a basic, inexpensive way to do so is by equipping onsite personnel with temperature-taking tools. A popular option is to hand out TWIC cards with a liquid crystal thermometer (LCT) integrated into the card itself.LCT-modified TWIC cards serve dual purposes for employers. For one, it can include the company’s branding or heat safety measures for easy reference. And two, these cards can be used to take a quick and accurate temperature reading – so workers know exactly when it’s time to elevate heat safety protocols.
  • Ensuring access to cool water and cooling stations – Regular, adequate hydration is key to staving off heat stress and should be the number one priority for your safety managers. No matter the conditions on the ground, workers need access to cool, potable water. They are also entitled to regular breaks to ensure they have time to hydrate and acclimate to stressful conditions.
  • Modifying work patterns when thermal stresses are elevated – There are days where little can be done to blunt the effects of extreme heat. If heat stresses will be elevated throughout the workday, consider modifying work rotations to either prioritize less strenuous, less hazardous work – or rotate workers quickly through stations to ensure no one person is exposed to excessive heat stress. In extreme circumstances, it may be necessary to schedule work at night and prevent thermal stresses due to sun exposure.

In short, supervisors and safety personnel must be adaptable when dealing with heat hazards. Heat is invisible, odorless and seemingly harmless, right up to the point where worker health is potentially affected. It’s important to be proactive when heat is a threat and ensure there are procedures in place when workers are stressed from the heat.

Give Your Workers a Chance Against Heat Stress with the Right Training and Tools

Heat stress is one of the most common hazards for workers on the jobsite. It’s also easy to forget about, as heat is a silent, invisible threat. However, there are proven measures that every employer can take to ensure their worksite is protected from heat stress. This includes equipping your workers and safety personnel with the right tools and resources and ensuring there’s an EAP in place that your employees are trained on. This will maximize emergency preparedness for everyone onsite – which can literally be the difference between life and death.

The Value of TWIC Cards for Employee Safety

Heat Aware

TWIC cards are inexpensive, lightweight and easy to produce at scale. They are also cost-effective tools for employee safety, especially when combined with liquid crystal thermometer (LCT) technology. LCTs turn TWIC cards into a convenient, accurate thermometer that will help your workers remain aware of the heat on the jobsite.

Here’s how these specialized TWIC cards can add value where employee safety is concerned:

  • Giving workers the information they need to make smart heat safety decisions
  • Alerting personnel when additional safety measures need to be taken
  • Providing a lightweight, compact solution that can go wherever your employees go
  • Providing additional heat safety information that may be critical during an emergency

Thousands of employees are affected by heat illnesses every year – and many are either permanently or fatally injured. Prevention is key with heat hazards, and that starts with better heat safety tools like TWIC cards.

Four Ways TWIC Cards Add Value in Employee Safety 

There are four value-adding benefits of TWIC cards designed with LCTs. They include:

  1. Ensuring workers have access to up-to-the-moment temperature information – LCT thermometers provide the perfect mix of accuracy and speed, as they provide a reading within a couple minutes and within a degree or two. For employees in the field, it’s hard to find a better way to track temperature, without sacrificing weight or cost. TWIC cards with LCT thermometers are an ideal first layer of defense for workers, always providing essential temperature information.
  2. Establishing a threshold for when additional heat safety measures must be implemented – When heat danger is elevated, it’s your employees who will notice first. Because they are on the front lines, they need to be one of the first to sound the alarm when it’s time to implement essential safety measures. This could be increasing the number of water and rest breaks, switching to lighter work rotations or just increasing vigilance among your safety personnel. Regardless of your company’s exact safety procedures, your employees can use their TWIC cards and LCTs to determine the right time for these measures. This will ensure your employees are aware and responsible for their safety.
  3. Providing a light, easy-to-carry heat safety solution that can go anywhere – TWIC cards are extremely light and inexpensive to produce. In fact, they’re typically made at scale to bring the per-unit cost down further – a smart option for companies that want to improve their safety and branding at the same time. The cards can be attached to lanyards hanging around the neck, put in a pocket, or inside a toolbox that is regularly accessed. No matter how your employees choose to carry them, they can go anywhere and be used to monitor temperatures both indoors and outside.
  4. Providing additional heat safety information that may be necessary during an emergency – TWIC cards can be developed with additional safety information that can be customized to your organization and its procedures. If your company implements various heat safety measures at certain temperature levels, your TWIC cards can serve as a convenient reference for workers. TWIC cards can also provide important safety reminders, like listing the signs of heat illness or an inventory of onsite heat resources.

TWIC Cards Are Effective Heat Safety Tools for Workers in Any Industry

Heat hazards are typically associated with outdoor labor and industries like construction, maintenance and agriculture, but they are present in many indoor settings as well. Whether inside or out, heat safety TWIC cards can help the following workers stay protected from hazardous heat:

  • Construction and maintenance workers
  • Farming and agricultural workers
  • Industrial and manufacturing workers
  • Automotive and aerospace manufacturing workers
  • Commercial kitchen workers
  • Foundry workers

In short, if your employees work around sources of heat, they should be equipped with heat safety resources to prevent heat-related illness or injury.

TWIC Cards Can Add Immeasurable Value to Your Heat Safety Plan

It is standard practice for employers to organize and publish an emergency action plan (EAP) for known hazards at the worksite. Increasingly, employers are choosing to create heat-specific EAPs, especially if their worksite harbors heat traps or is exposed to outdoor temperatures during the summer.

A heat-specific EAP includes several components that provide employees with the information, training, procedures and resources needed to identify and treat heat illnesses once they emerge. Responding immediately at the first sign of heat illness is not just important – it can literally be a matter of life and death. Delaying heat stroke treatment by just 30 minutes is often enough to result in serious, potentially permanent complications.

 

A proven way to reduce heat risks is to provide workers with the right safety resources. This includes cool packs, electrolyte tablets and access to fresh, cool water. Another important safety tool is TWIC cards embedded with liquid crystal thermometers. Information is power, and for employees working in areas where heat hazards are present, that means temperature information. Invest in TWIC cards with LCTs to keep your workers safe and heat aware.

How to Keep Your Crew Safe from the Summer Heat

Heat Aware

When summer heat strikes, it can pose a serious health risk to any workers who are exposed to it for long. Employers have a responsibility in keeping their crew safe on the jobsite, and here are some ways to ensure their safety when temperatures rise:

  • Prioritize heat safety during training and operations
  • Leverage safety signage to point out heat hazards
  • Ensure health and safety personnel are onsite and monitoring workers
  • Provide adequate rest and water breaks
  • Consider lighter work cycles or rescheduling labor-intensive work
  • Have an emergency action plan (EAP) in place

There are more steps that employers can take to protect their workers, but if you implement the above safety checks into your processes, it will go a long way to mitigating the dangers of summer heat.

Six Ways to Keep Your Crew Safe from the Summer Heat

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), dozens of workers die every year due to heat illness (heat exhaustion or stroke), but this number likely undercounts the true number. For one, not all heat illnesses are reported to medical agencies, and two, complications due to heat illness may be long-lasting and difficult to track – resulting in enduring medical issues.

Further, the BLS reports thousands of non-fatal heat illnesses every year, and even though these are less impactful than fatal incidents, they can still lead to prolonged work absences, loss of productivity and additional costs due to liability. Therefore, the goal for employers is to avoid heat injuries outright. And that means implementing the following six heat safety measures:

  1. Prioritize heat safety during training and operations – Heat safety starts at the top with proper training materials and top leadership buying in. Your worksite may include many hazards, and heat may not be the most threatening, but it should be included in your overall training approach. This includes drilling heat safety awareness and training workers on any heat safety resources on site.Company leadership should also reinforce heat safety by ensuring all of the below processes are in place. Material steps in heat safety will demonstrate the kind of commitment that you’ll want to see in your employees.
  2. Leverage safety signage to identify heat hazards – Occupational safety signage is a proven and cost-effective mechanism toward better heat safety. Safety signage can be installed close to heat hazards to serve as a constant reminder. Place these warning and danger signs anywhere heat sources are present (commercial ovens, furnaces, etc.) and your employees are more likely to be on alert for signs of heat illness.
  3. Ensure health and safety personnel are monitoring onsite workers – If your workers are constantly exposed to heat, ongoing health monitoring is a good idea. This is especially true if you have workers with known health risks, such as an existing heart condition.During periods of dangerous heat, your medical personnel can occasionally take worker vitals to ensure they aren’t heat stressed. And if workers show signs of heat illness (confusion, agitation, loss of balance, slurred speech, etc.), your safety personnel should recognize and respond to those signs immediately.
  4. Provide sufficient rest and water breaks to workers – Rest and hydration are the two most important defenses against heat illness. They should therefore be priorities on your worksite. During stretches of elevated heat, enforce more frequent water breaks and ensure there is an adequate supply of cool water and shade for workers.
  5. Assign lighter duty work or reschedule work schedules – If your employees work outside, the number one heat threat is the sun itself. During periods where heat danger is elevated during the day, consider transitioning to lighter work, if possible. If that’s not possible, consider rotating teams in and out of lighter workstations to keep them fresh.Ideally, some of the heavier labor should be reserved for evening or night-time hours. Of course, this is only possible if your worksite isn’t restricted due to noise levels.
  6. Create and implement an emergency action plan (EAP) – An EAP details the immediate procedures that workers should take if an emergency occurs. If heat hazards are a concern, then consider creating a heat-specific EAP that addresses what to do if an employee experiences heat illness. EAPs typically include an inventory of safety resources, immediate treatment methods and contact information for a nearby medical facility.With a heat-specific EAP in place, your workers will be prepared when the worst occurs.

Give Your Workers the Information, Resources and Support They Need to Stay Safe in the Summer Heat

Excessive heat is always a hazard, but during the summer, the threat level can be severe. After all, heat is invisible, odorless and insidious – so it can strike without warning. And when it does, there’s a brief window to respond appropriately.

With the above safety initiatives in place at your worksites, your employees will be ready and aware, and that can make the difference between preventing heat illness and potentially fatal outcomes.

Heat Related Illness Prevention: Eight Essential Tips to Staying Safe in the Heat

Bryan Slaven , ,

When the weather warms up, the chances of heat related illness go up, and prevention becomes key for employers. Here are 8 essential tips to keep your workers safe in the heat:

  1. Train workers to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat illness
  2. Provide workers with specialized tools, like liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs)
  3. Post safety reminders (like occupational signage) to improve heat safety compliance
  4. Provide easy access to hydration stations and cold water
  5. Know who is at elevated risk of heat related illness
  6. Consider lighter work rotations when temperatures rise
  7. Have an emergency action in place for when heat illness does emerge
  8. Keep an inventory of emergency supplies for heat emergencies

Heat is a constant threat to workers exposed to outdoor summer conditions – or workers exposed to heat sources inside. In both cases, the above tips will protect people from serious, potentially fatal injury.

Training Workers to Recognize the Signs and Symptoms of Heat Illness

The first step to preventing heat illness is knowing what it looks like. And in the majority of cases, this means heat exhaustion or its more dangerous cousin – heat stroke.

Both generally present the same way, except heat stroke is a true medical emergency. Relevant signs and symptoms include:

  • Excessive sweating, or a complete lack of it
  • Confusion and slurred speech
  • Loss of balance
  • Irritability
  • Fatigue
  • A rapid or weak pulse
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Loss of consciousness

If any of the above signs are present with any of your workers, coworkers and safety personnel should be ready to respond appropriately.

Providing Workers with the Right Tools, Like Liquid Crystal Thermometers (LCTs)

Ideally, your workers will know exactly when they are dealing with risky conditions – and to do that, they need to have the right tools on hand. And in the case of thermal risks, this means temperature-taking tools like liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs).

LCTs are compact and lightweight – to the point where they can be integrated into TWIC employee cards. They provide an accurate reading within seconds and are extremely cost effective – especially when manufactured en masse. Pass out the heat aware cards to your workers so they can keep a close eye on potentially hazardous conditions.

Posting Safety Reminders Like Occupational Signage to Improve Safety Compliance

Heat safety is workplace safety, and workplace safety must be constantly reinforced to ensure everyone is ready. A simple, proven way to do this is to install safety signage in areas where hazards are present. For heat hazards, this means installing safety signage close to any heat sources (like ovens or furnaces).

When heat is ubiquitous and impossible to contain, occupational signage can be used to remind workers to hydrate, point out essential safety resources (including safety wear) and other essential worksite safety procedures. This can keep your employees in an essential state of readiness.

Providing Easy Access to Hydration Stations and Cold Water

Frequent hydration is essential to preventing heat related illness, and that’s the employer’s responsibility to provide. Hydration stations should include cold, clean water that’s refilled as needed. And to improve cooling further, it’s a good idea to locate hydration stations in shaded areas with circulating air.

Make sure workers are given frequent breaks to rehydrate and increase this frequency further when temperatures rise to threatening levels.

Identifying Workers Who are at an Elevated Risk of Heat Related Illness

Some employees are at a greater risk of heat illness than others. This includes older workers, workers who haven’t acclimated to the heat, workers in poor overall health, and workers with certain chronic conditions. It’s important for the company’s safety personnel to identify who is at an elevated risk of heat related illness and monitor them closely when heat risks are elevated. For example, onsite medical personnel can take regular vital readings to identify the early signs of emerging heat illness. These readings can be taken more often for high-risk personnel.

Switching to Lighter Work Rotations When the Higher Temperatures Arrive

Work rotations can be changed up when heat risks are elevated, allowing for production to continue without putting any one employee at additional risk. Lighter work rotations, or work rotations away from sun or heat exposure can help workers cool down faster while remaining busy. Adjusting work rotations is also a good idea when high risk personnel are on site and need to be shielded from extreme heat.

Having an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for When Heat Illness Does Strike

An emergency action plan (EAP) is a formal response plan that companies put together for certain emergency situations. Some organizations use this approach to develop a heat-specific EAP that’s intended for heat related illnesses only. If your worksite has to contend with heat hazards, then a heat-specific EAP makes sense.

Heat-specific EAPs should include an inventory of all heat emergency supplies and their location. It should also include the company’s emergency response procedures, as well as the contact information for a nearby medical facility, and who to contact in the event of an emergency.

Once the organization creates an EAP, the next step is to train personnel on its details to ensure emergency preparedness.

Keeping an Inventory of Emergency Supplies on Hand for Severe Heat Illness

The goal with heat illness is prevention, as heat illnesses are 100 percent preventable. However, it’s essential for employers to keep potentially life-saving emergency supplies on hand should heat illness emerge. This includes cool packs, electrolyte replacement tabs and other rapid rehydration and cooling supplies. Your organization’s EAP should make a note of these supplies and their location, and your workers should be trained on their use.

These Heat Related Illness Prevention Tips Can Make the Difference for Your Employees

Heat exhaustion, heat stroke and other heat related illnesses can leave workers with permanent complications, and even fatal injury. Since heat is everywhere and invisible, it tends to sneak up on vulnerable people, like those laboring outdoors or in heavy duty industries.

Heat is insidious and dangerous, but the above prevention tips will ensure your worksites have it under control and are prepared if heat does cause a medical emergency.

A Complete Guide to OSHA and Heat Stress in the Workplace

Heat Aware , ,

Heat stress is a constant threat to workers in many industries, to the extent that OSHA has regulations in place to ensure heat safety in the workplace. Specifically, OSHA’s General Duty clause requires employers to ensure their employees are safe from all identifiable hazards at the work site.

Prioritizing heat safety is also the right thing to do, as heat illness can result in long-term, even fatal effects on workers. Many researchers assert that official data doesn’t capture how many workers die every year due to heat stress on the job, but some data available confirms that dozens of workers suffer fatal heat illnesses every year.

This guide is for employers looking to improve workplace safety and ensure they are in compliance with OSHA regulations.

Risk Factors for Heat Stress

Heat stress leads to heat illness, so minimizing its impact on workers is paramount. That starts with identifying heat stress risk factors, which include:

  • Heat hazards – The most obvious risk factor is the presence of heat-generating sources, like ovens, furnaces and areas where industrial machinery is outputting a lot of thermal energy into the environment (assembly lines are one example).
    Outdoor work typically means one difficult-to-avoid heat hazard: the sun. Duration of sun exposure is an essential data point to track in this case.
  • Work intensity – In workplaces where moderate to intense activity is required, exertion will increase the risk of heat illness. Extended periods of work in hazardous conditions will also increase the chances of experiencing heat illness.
  • Protective wear – Personal protective equipment (PPE) protects against environmental hazards but doesn’t ventilate well and will therefore trap a lot of heat.
  • Certain health conditions and medications – People with certain health conditions, like cardiovascular problems, are at a higher risk of developing heat illness and more likely to experience severe symptoms.

Symptoms of Heat Related Illness

Heat illness may emerge gradually or suddenly. In most cases, there is a brief period of time during which symptoms are present and others have time to respond and help. Recognizing the symptoms of heat illness is critical for a proper emergency response then. Here’s what to look for:

  • Confusion or irritability
  • Loss of balance (ataxia) or weakness
  • Excessive sweating or a complete lack of it
  • Skin that’s clammy or pale
  • Muscle cramps
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • A weak pulse
  • Loss of consciousness

If any of the above signs are present, the worker should be removed from hazardous conditions and have treatment promptly administered.

OSHA Regulations on Heat Stress

OSHA doesn’t have any heat-specific safety regulations on the books, but the General Duty clause also applies to heat hazards. OSHA recommends employers adopt the heat safety standards published by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

There are several state-level and heat safety regulations, too – published in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.

There is momentum toward OSHA publishing heat-specific regulations. In fact, one was proposed in July 2024 – a rule that would require employers to enact specific safety provisions (additional breaks, additional health monitoring, etc.) when certain temperature thresholds are reached. It’s likely that OSHA will eventually publish safety regulations for heat hazards specifically, given the increased scrutiny in this area.

Heat Illness Prevention Strategies in the Workplace

There are many measures employers can implement to improve heat safety, including:

  • Better hydration and nutrition guidelines – Fluid and electrolytes are lost to excessive sweating, which leads to heat illness symptoms. Replacing both is essential to warding off heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and this starts with better hydration and nutrition. Specifically, choosing hydration and electrolyte-replacing foods and drinks, like fluid-rich fruits and sports drinks. Employers are responsible for providing workers with adequate water and breaks to replenish fluids. As the temperature climbs, workers will need water breaks more frequently and will need more water to prevent heat illness.
  • Monitoring workers’ health – Elevated temperatures will place additional stress on workers, and this can mean danger for workers with pre-existing health conditions.
    When conditions are hazardous, onsite safety personnel must be ready to step in and check worker vitals periodically to ensure any signs of heat illness are spotted immediately. High-risk workers with significant health conditions should be monitored closely and rotated to lighter duty, if possible.
  • Preparing an emergency response – OSHA recommends employers develop heat-specifical emergency action plans (EAPs) to ensure a rapid response if heat illness does emerge.
    An EAP should outline the treatment procedures responding personnel will take if a worker experiences heat illness. EAPs outline treatment and provide an inventory of emergency response resources (and their location) and contact information for a nearby hospital or emergency room. EAPs give workers the information they need to respond quickly and effectively.
  • Providing training and educational resources to employees – Once your organization has its heat safety standards in place, they must be reinforced through repeated training drills and safety-focused talk. Ultimately, all forms of workplace safety – including heat safety – are reinforced by top management, so the company’s leaders must take charge in practicing and emphasizing safety. Regular training sessions are an important way to do this.

The Right Resources and Tools Will Also Improve Workplace Heat Safety

The right heat safety resources can make the difference when a heat illness emergency occurs. These resources should be stored in a clearly marked area that all personnel are aware of. Emergency heat illness resources typically include electrolyte tablets, cool packs and wraps. Together, these can bring down dangerous body temperatures quickly and treat dehydration.

Even better, outfit workers with tools that they can use to monitor work conditions and protect themselves when working. One example is liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs) integrated into employee TWIC cards. LCTs provide an accurate temperature reading within seconds and weigh next to nothing, so they can be easily carried and stored. And for organizations on a tight budget, LCTs are low-cost solutions that encourage workers to take charge of workplace safety – something every organization will benefit from.

Workplace Heat Safety Tips: Protecting Employees from Heat-Related Hazards

Heat Aware , ,

If your worksites operate furnaces or commercial ovens, then heat safety is a priority for worker safety and regulatory compliance.

To ensure adequate workplace heat protection, the following safety tips are recommended:

  • Understanding the importance of workplace heat safety
  • Recognizing the signs of heat illness
  • Identifying potential heat hazards
  • Establishing a heat safety program
  • Providing adequate ventilation and air conditioning
  • Providing training on proper use of personal protective equipment
  • Implementing work and rest schedules/cycles
  • Providing access to cool water and water breaks
  • Training employees on all heat safety guidelines
  • Updating all heat safety measures as needed

Together, these heat safety procedures and tips will provide additional protection for your workers and additional protection for your jobsite in the form of better regulatory compliance.

A Closer Look at Important Workplace Heat Safety Tips

Workplace heat safety is a team effort and requires a comprehensive approach, as heat is invisible and odorless. That approach should include the following:

  • Understanding the importance of workplace heat safety – Heat safety isn’t just an employer’s responsibility, it’s the right thing to do. Every year, heat illnesses affect thousands of workers and cause serious, sometimes permanent or fatal injury.
    The first step for employers is to reinforce the importance of heat safety at every level of the company, including upper management. Safety culture is reflected by company leadership and all the way down to the individual workers who are most at risk of heat injury.
    An easy and inexpensive way to prioritize heat safety is to invest in heat stress management signs, as these remind workers of essential heat safety guidelines and encourage caution. They are also available in bilingual versions to support a bilingual workforce. Heat aware cards also reinforce heat safety awareness and provide workers with up-to-the-moment information on temperature and heat stress conditions.
  • Recognizing the signs of heat illness – Heat illnesses tend to emerge suddenly and progress quickly, so it’s essential that everyone on your worksites recognize the signs and symptoms of heat illness.
    Heat exhaustion and heat stroke present with confusion, slurred speech, excessive sweating, headaches, irritability, nausea and vomiting and, in severe cases, loss of consciousness. When any of these signs are present, it’s up to other workers and supervisors to notice and respond appropriately.
  • Identifying potential heat hazards – Heat safety plans are the guiding document when improving worker protections, and the first step in any workplace heat safety plan is identifying the worksite’s heat hazards. For exterior worksites, pay attention to where sun and shade are present throughout the day. For interior worksites, furnaces, ovens, foundries and any areas with limited air circulation are high heat-risk locations. Safety and heat stress management signage should be installed in these areas.
  • Establishing a heat safety program – Occupational safety plans are the primary safety guidance documents for worksites. However, for worksites with significant heat hazards, it makes sense to take the safety plan a step further and put together a heat-specific safety plan. Heat safety planning should include a list of all heat hazards identified on the site, the safety measures in place to mitigate them, and emergency procedures that should be followed if severe heat illnesses emerge. Once a heat safety plan is put together, managers should immediately implement all safety and training measures.
  • Providing adequate ventilation and air conditioning – Circulating air will reduce the impact of heat and should be present at all cooling stations. Inside, air conditions and air moving fans are recommended. Outside, position cooling stations in areas where air is moving, or install fans inside a tent to facilitate cooling.
  • Providing training on proper use of personal protective equipment – Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a critical layer of protection around chemical, electrical or fire hazards. However, they can cause overheating if worn too long or not worn properly. Heat safety training should include proper use of PPE to ensure it doesn’t result in heat illness.
  • Implementing work and rest cycles – When heat risks are elevated, like during peak daytime temperatures, many employers switch to alternate work rotations where workers spend less time at high-stress, high heat-risk stations and have additional time to rest – or at least have more time at light-duty workstations.
  • Providing access to cool water and water breaks – Regular hydration is a frontline defense against heat stress and should be consumed regularly during periods of elevated heat risk. Employers should ensure all cooling stations have access to cold water that’s replenished as needed.
  • Training employees on all heat safety guidelines – Once your organization has its workplace heat safety measures in place, including a heat safety plan, it’s time to train supervisors and employees on the plan. Training drills and unscheduled inspections will send the message to everyone that the company takes heat safety seriously.
  • Updating all heat safety measures as needed – Your company’s heat safety procedures should be updated and improved upon as potential vulnerabilities emerge in your safety plan. Review your heat safety measures prior to the hot season to ensure your organization is ready to deal with heat stresses. If heat hazards are present year-round, review your safety procedures semi-annually to verify emergency response readiness.

Implementing Workplace Heat Safety Tips Will Provide Protection for Employees

Heat is a difficult hazard to avoid, and it can become intense before anyone takes notice. Fortunately, heat is something that employers can prepare for with proper planning and procedures in place. For the sake of ensuring regulatory compliance and for your workers’ safety, consider implementing these heat safety tips on your worksites.

How Can Employers Protect Workers from Heat Stress?

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According to the EPA, dozens of workers die every year from heat illnesses, and almost all of them are preventable. There are some important measures employers can take to protect workers from heat stress, including:

  • Installing heat stress-related occupational safety signage
  • Monitoring working conditions in real time to identify when heat stress is present
  • Identifying workers who may be at an elevated risk of heat illness
  • Ensuring workers take breaks at designated cooling stations
  • Adjusting work rotations to protect workers from extended heat exposure
  • Developing a heat-specific emergency action plan and safety plan

Together, these heat safety measures can provide a critical layer of protection for your most vulnerable employees. And the stakes are high, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and EPA believe that occupational heat deaths are vastly underreported – perhaps due to misclassification of worker deaths and the presence of undocumented workers in high heat risk industries, like construction, chemical plants and landscaping companies.

How Employers Can Protect Workers from Heat Stress

Fortunately, there are many low-cost, highly effective measures that employers can put in place to protect their workers from heat stress. Some of these safety measures include:

  • Installing heat stress-related occupational safety signage – Safety signage is cost effective to install, doesn’t have to be powered up, is always present and does the job of alerting workers to dangerous conditions. It’s also available for a full range of potential hazards, including heat stress hazards. When installed near sources of intense heat such as commercial ovens, furnaces, foundries, etc., safety signage provides advance notice of heat risks and allows workers to take appropriate steps to protect themselves.
  • Monitoring work conditions to identify periods of heat stress – The best defense against heat is useful information and vigilance. If your workers and supervisors know when work conditions are threatened by heat stress, they can be better prepared. The best way to do this is to provide your employees with heat-monitoring tools, such as liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs).
    LCTs provide an instant temperature reading that’s accurate within a degree or two, and they are so lightweight they can be integrated into a variety of materials. For example, LCTs can be placed in employee TWIC cards, which can easily be worn on a lanyard or carried by workers. When the LCT indicates dangerous heat stress, protective measures can be instituted. TWIC cards with LCTs are inexpensive, can be produced in large quantities and can be branded with the company’s information and logo.
  • Identifying workers who have an elevated risk of heat illness – Some workers are more susceptible to heat stress than others. Certain health conditions, lifestyle factors and characteristics (such as age) will increase the likelihood of a person developing heat illness. Further, employees new to the job will also be at a higher risk of heat stress until they are acclimated to strenuous work in elevated temperatures.
    When bringing on new employees, it’s important that the company’s medical staff review each new hire’s health history to identify any potential concerns. If such concerns are present, high-risk workers may need to be placed on lighter work rotations or take additional breaks when heat dangers are present. New workers should be given an acclimation period (usually 2-4 weeks) to slowly ramp up their activity until they’re able to work in the at full capacity safely.
  • Ensuring workers take breaks at designated cooling stations – Regular breaks are critical for protecting workers from heat stress, and the hotter it gets, the more rest periods are needed for safety.
    Employers can protect their workers further by investing in simple cooling stations for their workers to rest at. Each cooling station should have regularly replenished supplies of cool water, shade and, ideally, circulating air. Even better, if your worksite has access to air-conditioned areas, this will help employees keep their cool when the heat is on.
  • Adjusting work rotations to protect workers from extended heat exposure – When temperatures climb, workers must reduce their exposure to the heat to protect themselves. This is especially important if your workers are also subjected to constant sun exposure.
    A simple protective measure during periods of high heat risk is to shorten work rotations or maintain workstations that include less strenuous labor (or labor that’s removed from heat and sun). As heat stresses worsen on the worksite, supervisors can protect their workers by rotating them through these lower risk stations while maintaining productivity.
  • Developing a heat-specific safety and emergency action plan (EAP) – It’s standard practice for employers to implement safety plans and EAPs, but some take this essential practice a step further by creating heat-specific plans.
    A heat-specific safety plan is used to identify potential heat risks at the worksite, as well as outline the steps and procedures the company’s staff will take to mitigate those hazards. Also included in a safety plan are the names and contact information for the people responsible for enforcing the plan.
    A heat-specific EAP outlines the steps onsite personnel must take in the event of a heat stress emergency. It should include an inventory of onsite emergency resources (such as cooling packs), a list of treatment procedures to follow, and who to contact should an emergency occur. An EAP can be lifesaving when heat illnesses happen, as they can develop into life-threatening events quickly.

Employers Can Protect Their Workers from Heat Stress Without Stressing Their Budgets

Heat dangers are very real for workers who labor in heavy-duty industries or those that are regularly exposed to elevated temperatures. These dangers can prove fatal if not addressed properly, and that responsibility falls on employers. Heat safety measures are generally inexpensive to implement and are effective at protecting workers from heat stress.

How to Deal with Dangerous Heat When You are Not Accustomed to It

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Many serious workplace heat injuries occur in those who aren’t accustomed to dangerous levels of heat. As such, these people need extra protection as they adjust to elevated temperatures. Employers and workers can ensure this adjustment period is a smooth one by doing the following:

  • Understanding the dangers of heat stroke
  • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness
  • Hydrating properly
  • Dressing appropriately for environmental conditions
  • Taking breaks in shaded cooling areas
  • Using cooling products or gear
  • Adjusting work schedules to avoid peak heat hours
  • Creating a heat-specific safety plan
  • Allowing workers to acclimate to work conditions

Each of the points above are vital in keeping people safe when the heat is relentless.

1) Understanding the Dangers of Heat Stroke

People unaccustomed to dangerous heat may not realize the risks of working in high heat environments. Before new hires begin work in high-risk conditions, everyone should be warned about heat stroke and its potential to cause fatal injury. Most people know that extreme temperatures can kill, but they may not know that heat stroke can emerge within 10 minutes, or that it may emerge slowly over several hot days. New workers may not know that heat stroke can cause permanent disability in people who recover from it, so avoiding heat illness is paramount.

Employers should also consider outfitting new workers with temperature-monitoring tools like liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs), which can be integrated into employee TWIC cards.

2) Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Heat Illness

If employees and managers on the jobsite know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, they will respond faster to a developing emergency.

Heat exhaustion symptoms include:

  • Rapid, weak pulse
  • Heavy sweating
  • Muscle cramps
  • Dizziness
  • Weakness or fatigue
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Headache
  • Elevated body temperature

Heat stroke symptoms are similar to those of heat exhaustion, but they are more severe and potentially deadly. They include:

  • Lack of sweating
  • Body temperature in excess of 103 degrees
  • Profound confusion
  • Slurred speech
  • Loss of consciousness

Heat exhaustion can be treated onsite if it’s promptly addressed. However, heat stroke is a medical emergency that demands immediate attention.

3) Hydrating Properly

Proper hydration is key in the fight against dangerous heat. When working in elevated temperatures, the rule of thumb is eight ounces of water (1 cup) every 15 to 20 minutes. Paradoxically, acclimated workers need additional water to hydrate, as they sweat more effectively (heavily).

It is better to drink smaller amounts of water more often, compared to large amounts infrequently. Avoid drinks that pull water out of your tissues, such as alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Foods with high water content (fruits, for example) can also provide hydration.

4) Dressing Appropriately for Environmental Conditions

Heavy clothing will trap heat and increase body temperature. If workers don’t require protective wear, then light, breathable fabrics are recommended.

In hazardous work settings where protective wear is necessary, shortening work rotations will ensure people have enough time to cool down between high-intensity bouts of activity.

5) Taking Breaks in Shaded Cooling Areas

When high risk temperatures are present, supervisors should implement more frequent breaks to keep workers safe. If possible, a cooling station should be provided to workers – one that’s shaded and outfitted with a fan or air conditioning. If someone develops heat exhaustion or heat stroke, they should be relocated to a cooling station for frontline treatment.

6) Using Cooling Products or Gear

There are numerous cooling products that are cost effective and work well. Cooling vests and shirts, for example, use stored water to keep workers cool. Neck wraps are another popular option that can be dipped in water and worn around the neck to quickly cool workers. Neck shades and sun shields can keep the direct sun off workers and help prevent heat exhaustion.

7) Adjusting Work Schedules to Avoid Peak Heat Hours

If the weather forecast suggests extreme heat is on the way, consider reorganizing work shifts so that the heavier work is reserved for off-peak heat hours. When temperatures climb, supervisors should seek to lower exertion levels. This is also an opportunity for managers to schedule higher-risk workers (older workers, those with chronic health conditions, etc.) for shifts when temperatures aren’t as threatening.

8) Creating a Heat-Specific Safety Plan

A worksite safety and emergency action plan are valuable safety resources, and they can be developed specifically to target heat hazards. If your worksite needs a heat-specific safety plan, this is what it should include:

  • A section identifying all worksite heat hazards and their locations
  • An inventory of all heat safety resources and their locations
  • A section detailing all heat safety measures, such as monitoring worker vitals
  • A section detailing emergency response procedures, in the event of a heat injury (including contact information for a nearby medical facility)
  • A section that names the people responsible for enforcing the plan, as well as their contact information

Once your heat safety plan is in place, it’s imperative that workers and managers, including top management, are properly trained in the protocols.

9) Allowing Workers to Acclimate to Work Conditions

Most serious and fatal heat injuries occur in workers who are new on the job. It takes time for the human body to adjust to elevated temperatures, but it can adjust fairly well if given adequate time. When acclimating new workers to the job, the goal is to slowly get them accustomed to elevated levels of heat. Here’s the best approach to acclimation:

  • Gradually increase work intensity over 1-2 weeks
  • Eventually increase work intensity to actual expected work intensity (the body will only acclimate to the level of exertion it experiences)
  • Hydrate and cool completely between work rotations
  • Do not push workers to heat exhaustion – this will reduce heat tolerance
  • Acclimation periods should last at least two hours

Once workers are acclimated, they will require more fluid to stay hydrated, but will tolerate higher levels of exertion.

The Above Measures Can Help Those Who Aren’t Accustomed to Dangerous Heat

There are many simple steps that businesses can take to protect their workers from dangerous heat. It starts with knowledge and vigilance, and includes outfitting your workers with heat safety resources, adding cooling breaks, adjusting work schedules, creating a heat safety plan and more. Together, these measures will safeguard your workers from dangerous heat, especially if they aren’t accustomed to it.

Heat Stress: Causes, Symptoms and Prevention Tips

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Heat stress can be a deadly threat to workers – and it can be caused by several types of heat sources, including:

  • Environmental heat from the sun or excess humidity
  • Exertion – the more intense the exertion, the greater the heat risk
  • Heat trapped inside heavy or non-breathable work clothing
  • Additional heat sources, like ovens or furnaces

Certain health conditions can predispose workers to the dangers of heat stress, but even completely healthy people can be severely harmed by the heat. As such, it’s up to employers and workers to respond to thermal risks and put measures in place to avoid heat-related illness and injury.

What are the Symptoms of Heat Stress and Heat Illness?

When heat stress is intense enough to cause symptoms, the resulting condition is termed heat illness. Two of the most common and concerning forms of heat illness are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Here are the symptoms and potential complications of each:

  • Heat exhaustion – Heat exhaustion is the precursor to heat stroke and merits an immediate medical response from onsite personnel. If untreated, heat exhaustion will progress to potentially deadly forms of heat illness. Common signs of heat exhaustion include headaches, dizziness, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature, nausea or vomiting, and muscle cramps or spasms. Confusion may also be present.
  • Heat stroke – Heat stroke is a medical emergency and typically occurs when heat stress goes unchecked for too long. Heat exhaustion may progress to heat stroke suddenly, transitioning from a preventable injury to a potentially life-threatening condition.
    Heat stroke is characterized by dangerously high body temperatures, profuse sweating or a complete lack of it (the body’s attempt to retain water), profound confusion and loss of coordination, slurred speech, mood changes, severe migraine-like headaches and loss of consciousness.

In addition to the above, heat stress may manifest as lower risk heat illnesses such as heat rash or heat cramps. Responding to those mild forms of heat stress is the first step in reducing heat injuries.

Heat Stress Prevention Tips

The best way to handle heat risks is to minimize them from the outset. Failing that, it’s critical that your personnel (including top management) knows how to respond to developing heat-related emergencies. Here are some steps every employer can take to improve their company’s heat safety:

  • Identify all potential heat hazards – If you don’t know where the heat hazards are, you can’t protect workers (or yourself) from them. Survey the worksite and determine where heat stress is most likely to emerge. Take temperature readings several times a day over several days to confirm this, as thermal pockets can appear anywhere, including interior spaces.
  • Create a heat-specific safety plan – The general recommendation for businesses is to invest in safety planning. If heat hazards are present at your facilities or worksites, a heat-specific safety plan is also recommended. Include all implementable safety measures and who is responsible for implementing them. Putting a plan in place improves emergency readiness if your employees are trained on the steps to take.
  • Prioritize medical monitoring – Some people are far more predisposed to heat stress risks than others. People with heart disease and people taking diuretics, anticholinergics or antidepressants are two examples of heat-susceptible workers. If these risk factors are identified in workers early, steps can be taken to mitigate them, like extending the acclimation period or scheduling work rotations away from the worst heat risks.
  • Provide essential heat safety resources – Heat stress can be managed with the right onsite materials and resources. For example, neck wraps are a low-cost accessory that workers can use to keep themselves cool.
    Another helpful option is liquid crystal thermometers (LCTs) that workers can easily carry around. LCTs are so light that they can be embedded into ID badges or TWIC cards. They provide an accurate temperature reading within moments and can give workers advance notice of elevated heat risks.
  • Prioritize safety training and leadership – Safety planning and other safety measures are no use if workers aren’t put through safety drills. Those measures are also likely to fail if upper management reflects a “safety second” mentality on the job. To ensure neither threatens your heat safety approach, schedule regular training sessions and reject any casual attitudes toward heat safety. It only takes one serious heat injury to derail your organization.
  • Implement an acclimation period – Many severe and fatal heat illnesses occur in workers new to the job. These people often have not had time to adjust to high-exertion work or work in high-temperature areas.
    Fortunately, the human body can adjust (to an extent) to these conditions if given a couple of weeks with a gentle ramp-up of work intensity and duration. Allow your new hires to acclimate on this timeline to build up their heat tolerance.
  • Have a plan for when heat stress strikes – Ultimately, your organization must be prepared for when, not if, an emergency occurs. These emergency measures should be specified in your safety plan and include details on available emergency resources (such as cooling packs) – and where to find them. Your workers should also know how to move a heat stressed person to safety, how to begin life-saving cooling treatment, and who to contact.

Prevent Heat Stress by Recognizing and Reacting to the Causes

Heat stress can be a killer and has caused dozens of on-the-job fatalities in the last several years. That underestimates the impact of heat illnesses, too, as they often lead to long-term injury and reduced productivity.

The good news is that heat stress and heat injuries are avoidable with the right preventable measures in place.