Whenever heat stress exceeds occupational exposure limits, workers should be protected by acclimatization programs, training about symptom recognition and first aid, and provision of rest breaks, shade, and water. A Heat Index of 85°F (29.4°C) could be used as a screening threshold to prevent heat-related illness.
The HIP Network is a voluntary public/private partnership established to increase both employers' and employees' awareness of the hazard of heat illness and the importance of heat illness prevention measures to prevent fatalities and serious illnesses in California workplaces.
Army researchers have developed an application that helps unit leaders better predict the likelihood of heat illness for both training and operations.
The Heat Strain Decision Aid is an app for both computers and tablets that conducts simulations of heat stress so that planners can effectively set out time tables that allow soldiers to work while also protecting them from overexertion, which can lead to debilitating, even deadly heat-related conditions, according to a release.
After an analysis of 25 OSHA heat-related illnesses — 14 fatal and 11 nonfatal — the Centers for Disease Control suggested that employers start screening their workers for heat stress when the heat index reaches 85 degrees Fahrenheit rather than the 91 F OSHA currently recommends. Heat stress covers a wide variety of potential illnesses, including life-threatening heat stroke.
The state of California continues to place obligations for preventing employee heat stroke onto employers. In 2015, California heat stroke law clarified that cooldown periods or “recovery periods” must be paid, by state law.
Areas recovering from destructive Cyclone Fani will have to endure dangerous temperatures as a heat wave builds across northern and eastern India.
The heat already turned deadly with at least three deaths from sunstroke reported in Andhra Pradesh, according to OneIndia.
The human body can’t handle excessive heat. The processes that keep us alive work best within a certain temperature window. That’s generally between about 36° and 37° Celsius (96.8° to 98.6° Fahrenheit), depending on the person.
We have a swamp of occupational safety and health theory and practice currently. Lack of nationwide clarity undermines what should be unequivocal reproductive health protections, whether preconceptual, post-childbearing for target reproductive organs, or during pregnancy.
On a summer morning near Dayton, Ohio, a temporary worker began his first day with a commercial roofing company around 6:30 a.m. Mark Rainey, 60, was assigned to a crew to rip off and dispose of an old bank-building roof. Within hours, as the heat index reached 85 degrees, his co-workers noticed the new guy was “walking clumsily,” then became ill and collapsed, according to documents from OSHA.
Summer is just around the corner. And while we all welcome the sunshine and a break from the cold and snow…are you ready for higher temperatures, rain and an influx of bugs and pests?
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