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Summer May Be Over, But Heat Safety is Not

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been engaged in a national Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers.  In this campaign, OSHA emphasizes the importance of acclimatization, which is the process of gradually building up workloads and exposure to heat by taking frequent breaks for water and rest in shade or air conditioning.  You will learn more about how to beat the heat from the  Department of Labor blog post, Summer May Be Over, But Heat Safety is Not, authored by Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

Labor Day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the end of extreme heat, especially for workers who spend much of their time outdoors.  While most of the U.S. experienced a relatively mild summer, in some cases even witnessing record lows, the Labor Day weekend saw soaring temperatures and humidity along the East Coast, which means workers are still feeling the heat.

To raise awareness among workers and employers about the risks for heat-related illness or death the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been engaged in a national Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers.  The campaign has sought to educate workers and employers across the nation, providing them with tools to beat the heat and encouraging them to drink water and rest in the shade or air conditioning to help prevent heat-related illness.

OSHA investigations conducted as part of the initiative to protect workers against heat illness were also published in a study by the Center for Disease Control, which examined 20 heat-related enforcement cases from 2012-2013.  The study, which ran in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Report on August 8, found that the primary risk factor for heat-related worker fatalities is the lack of acclimatization programs. Acclimatization is the process of gradually building up workloads and exposure to heat by taking frequent breaks for water and rest in shade or air conditioning.  In all 20 cases, heat illness prevention programs were found to be incomplete or absent, and no provision was made for acclimatizing new workers to the heat.

One of these cases involved Michael White, a 31-year-old who collapsed on June 5, 2013, his third day loading garbage onto a disposal truck in Houston, Texas.  He was working the hardest and heaviest route, requiring him to load 16 tons of garbage for 10 hours in sweltering heat and was not acclimatized to working in that temperature.  Michael suffered heat stroke, was hospitalized and died 4 days later.

heat safety campaign

More resources to help prevent such tragedies are available on OSHA’s website in English and Spanish, including a fact sheet that provides tips on protecting workers from the effects of heat.  There’s even an OSHA Heat App you can download that calculates the heat index (both temperature and humidity) where you are working and provides recommendations for how best to protect yourself based on the risk level. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded more than 160,000 times.

Even though summer is nearly over, working outdoors in extreme heat can be deadly at any time of year.  Remember: “Water. Rest. Shade.” can saves lives.

Dr. David Michaels is the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.