Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels and National Weather Service Deputy Director Laura Furgione have renewed their agencies’ joint effort to help workers avoid excessive heat – and the health dangers that come with it.
In an announcement this week, Michaels discussed enhancements to OSHA's heat safety mobile app, which calculates the heat index and displays risk levels for workers. Furgione talked about the summer weather outlook, and both emphasized that outdoor workers must drink water, rest and cool off in the shade to avoid heat stress.
As a result of the partnership between the two agencies, NWS has started including important worker safety information in all extreme heat alerts.
Michaels asked the meteorologists to incorporate OSHA's worker safety message into their weather broadcasts. "If outdoor workers take these precautions, it can mean the difference between life and death," he said.
