The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working on federal standards to address heat-related illnesses in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Though their progress is methodical, they have published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).
The agency has also launched a National Emphasis Program, conducted hundreds of heat-related inspections, and created Heat.gov.
Beginning with the National Emphasis Program, it is a program of outreach, inspection, and enforcement for indoor and outdoor heat-related hazards. This program targets over 70 industries in the following sectors and more:
- Agriculture
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Wholesale sectors
- Automobile dealerships
- Postal service
- Freight and rail transportation (1)
The program implements and describes policies and procedures that protect employees from heat-related hazards, injuries, and illness.
This program expands on OSHA’s current work and is intended to encourage early interventions by employers. The first step towards employers adopting these policies is the correct training and receipt of proper information and resources.
A valuable resource for employers to use is Heat.gov.
This federal website was created to dispense heat and health related information and become a web portal for the National Integrated Heat Health Information System.
This system was intended to provide real-time data and response sources for both the public and local officials (3). It was created through a collaboration among several federal agencies including:
- The National Integrated Heat Health Information System,
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
- The Environmental Protection Agency
- and others.
The website includes heat forecasts from various federal agencies, guides to plan and prepare for high temperatures, and opportunities to support communities and public health programs at a high risk for heat exposure (4).
This website is the Biden Administration’s latest effort to address extreme heat and other impacts from the climate change situation.
Using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, crucial investments in programs that build resilient infrastructure that helps communities withstand extreme weather conditions such as wildfires, drought, heat, and other heat-related hazards.
The current Administration has also made record investments to help families with their household energy costs through other pieces of legislation, recently with the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act.
In addition to inflation, climate change and reducing energy costs are priorities of both the American people and the Biden Administration. July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth and summers are only getting hotter and deadlier.
Extreme heat is a global threat.
Human-caused climate change is an issue that’s getting even worse as the annual average temperature of the United States is projected to rise by 5-8.7℉ by the end of this century.
Heat-related illnesses and death are preventable with adequate education, planning, and monitoring.
Few health systems have action plans for heat exposure integrated into their real-time clinical health decision-making for patients.
As heat waves become more frequent, intense and long lasting, there is a crucial need for increased health system preparedness to meet the growing load of heat-related illness.
Tools such as Heat.gov provide health systems easy access to information needed to improve patient and community health outcomes while simultaneously reducing system-wide impacts and efficiency of federal health agencies (1).
An essential tool that can be used to combat heat-related illnesses is proper education, both from job training and individual research.
The first step towards this is knowing the definition of heat illness.
The four most common heat illnesses include:
- heat rash,
- heat cramps
- heat exhaustion
- and heat stroke
Heat rash is a skin irritation from prolonged heat exposure to the skin that results in redness and large rashes in extreme cases.
Heat cramps are painful muscle spasms that result from overheating and dehydration.
Heat exhaustion also results from dehydration and prolonged exposure that causes heavy sweating, a fast and weak pulse, rapid breathing, and even body weakness.
The most life-threatening of these illnesses occurs when the internal body temperature rises above 104℉ within a short span of time.
Symptoms of a heat stroke include confusion, seizures, and even loss of consciousness. If untreated, heat stroke can lead to organ failure, a coma, and even death.
A crucial part of this education is knowing the factors, both physical and even genetic, that increases the risk of getting a heat illness.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, additional factors that increase your risk of getting a heat illness include:
- “Dehydration. If you’re dehydrated, meaning you don’t have enough fluids in your body, you’re more at risk of a heat illness.
- Obesity and/or poor physical fitness.
- Certain prescription medications. These include tranquilizers, water pills, antihistamines, beta blockers, laxatives and drugs used to treat mental illnesses or Parkinson’s disease.
- Using illegal drugs or alcohol.
- Lack of experience working in heat, working outdoors or doing heavy work. You may need to take breaks and spend some time in the shade.
- Illness, specifically medical conditions such as diabetes, kidney problems and heart problems. Also pregnancy, and symptoms like high blood pressure and fever.
- Heavy, dark or light clothing. If you must wear heavy equipment and clothing like sports padding and helmets, police and fire uniforms and industrial protective equipment, you’re in danger of developing a heat illness.
- Age. If your child is four years old or younger, or you’re 65 or older, you’re at a higher risk. Infants and young children commonly get heat rash.
- Gender. Males are more likely to get a heat illness than females.
- Prior history of heat-related illnesses.” (2)
Ways to combat these factors are not only being aware of them, but taking proper individual precautions when exposed to heat to combat significant effects.
Standard precautions align with OSHA’s message of “Water.Rest.Shade.”
Employers are encouraged to ensure workers drink water every 15 minutes, take frequent breaks in the shade to cool down, train workers on the hazards of heat exposure, have an emergency plan ready to respond when there are signs of heat-related hazards, and allow workers to build a tolerance for working in the heat.
All of these precautions are essential to ensuring safety of all individuals and combating heat-related illnesses. Employers and individuals can utilize free federal resources such as Heat.gov to learn more about these precautions and receive additional training and assistance.
Employers can also leverage technologies like Sonicu’s remote wireless heat stress temperature monitoring solution. Trusted in many manufacturing and logistics facilities, the Sonicu system is affordable, intuitive and easy to deploy in just minutes.
While it can’t prevent high heat, cool your facility or prevent a surprise OSHA inspection, it can perform an important role in keeping managers and even employees aware of rising heat threat and demonstrate to inspectors that facility leadership is taking a proactive approach to managing heat stress threats.
