As our summers get hotter and more parts of the country regularly battle sweltering heat waves, it’s imperative that employers take steps to protect their outdoor workers.
No part of the nation is immune from the ravages of extreme heat, and while it’s all relative, people who are not acclimated to high heat conditions can easily suffer heat illness, which can be deadly.
Between 2011 and 2021, there were 436 work-related deaths caused by environmental heat exposure, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2022, there were 43 work-related fatalities, up from 36 in 2021, but down from 56 in 2020.
California employers need to be especially mindful of Cal/OSHA heat illness prevention standard, which the agency actively enforces.
Cal/OSHA urging employers to take the following steps to prevent heat-related illness among their employees who work outdoors:
Planning – Develop and implement an effective written heat illness prevention plan (HIPP) that is specific and customized to your specific operations.
The plan must include the following heat illness prevention and response procedures:
Training – Train all employees and supervisors on heat illness prevention. Nobody should be working outside in heat if they have not been trained in heat illness prevention and emergency procedures.
Water – Provide drinking water that is fresh, pure, suitably cool and free of charge so each worker can drink at least 1 quart per hour, and encourage workers to do so. Water should be located as close as practicable to where employees are working.
Access to shade – When temperatures reach 80 degrees, you must have and maintain one or more areas of shade at all times, when employees are present. Locate the shade as close as practical to the area where employees are working and provide enough to accommodate the number of employees on meal, recovery or rest periods at any time
Even if temperatures are less than 80 degrees, you must permit access to shade for workers to rest.
The importance of rest – Encourage workers to take a cool-down rest in the shade for at least five minutes when they feel the need to do so to protect themselves from overheating. Workers should not wait until they feel sick to cool down.
If an employee starts feeling unwell, they must be monitored for symptoms of heat illness and emergency procedures should be initiated if they don’t improve.
High-heat procedures – During heatwaves (when the mercury reaches 95 degrees), employers must institute high-heat procedures that include monitoring of employees, regular communication, more frequent reminders to drink water and rest, and additional cool-down rest periods.
Emergency response procedures should be site-specific and include who/how to call emergency services and steps to respond to signs and symptoms of heat illness.
Observe all employees and any newly assigned to a high-heat area. You should consider giving employees who have not been working in high temperatures time to adapt to the new conditions. You can do this by initially providing them with lighter work, frequent breaks or shorter hours.
Get the plan right
Your heat illness prevention plan must be in writing and include all of the above. The HIPP must be written both in English and in the language understood by the majority of employees. It must also be available to employees at the work site.
Additional information about heat illness prevention, including details on upcoming training sessions throughout the state, are posted on Cal/OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention page.
The agency also has extensive multilingual materials for employers, workers and trainers on its “Water. Rest. Shade.” public awareness campaign website.