Establish a Heat Illness Prevention Plan to Protect Employees
When it comes to heat hazards, there are a variety of risk factors to monitor, environmental conditions may change rapidly, and it can be challenging to spot early signs of illness. Building heat-related illness prevention into your workplace safety policy is integral to ensuring your employees engage in safe work practices.
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Here are six areas to focus on when establishing plans and protocols for heat safety.
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1. Hydration and rest breaks
- Develop a mandatory break schedule and increase the frequency as the risk of heat-related illness rises
- Set up easily accessible hydration stations with enough drinking water for each employee to consume one quart per hour
- Provide sports drinks, ice pops, and hydration supplements
- Make first aid kits available throughout worksites, and regularly check that they’re fully stocked
2. Engineering controls
- Make cooling systems such as air conditioning and fans available wherever possible
- Install insulation around heat sources and use reflective shields to redirect radiant heat
- Improve ventilation and airflow wherever possible to encourage heat dissipation
- Leverage powered equipment like conveyors and forklifts to reduce employee workload and physical exertion
- At outdoor worksites, set up ample shade and misters for employees to cool off during breaks
- Use a wet bulb globe temperature device to monitor environmental conditions
3. Training
- Train all employees on precautions to take and heat safety tips to follow in hot environments as well as how to adjust to changing conditions
- Make sure workers understand the early signs of heat-related illness and set clear action plans for how to report symptoms
- Provide first aid classes, instructions on how to treat heat-related illnesses, and guidance on when to seek emergency medical care
- Discuss contingency plans for possible complications like unseasonably warm temperatures, power outages, and broken cooling systems
- Include heat hazard planning in monthly safety meetings during warmer months to serve as a refresher for employees
4. New workers and acclimatization
- Ensure new workers have clothing that is well ventilated and allows excess body heat to dissipate
- Follow acclimatization guidelines by restricting new workers to no more than 20% of a shift at full intensity, increasing by 20% each day until they’re comfortable with the conditions
- Pair newer workers with experienced employees who can help them understand the work conditions and ease into the situation
- Train supervisors to proactively monitor new hires and ensure they’re taking frequent breaks, hydrating, and following your company’s heat policies
5. Work practices
- Create an inclement weather policy that includes contingencies for extreme heat
- When possible, schedule work during cooler parts of the day, such as early morning
- Set a maximum temperature for work as appropriate for your environmental conditions
- Rotate high-effort job functions among workers to minimize exertion and workload
- Use an employee safety monitoring platform to communicate weather conditions and give employees a way to report issues or illnesses in real time
6. Personal protective equipment
- Identify how PPE increases heat hazards and factor that into your plans to monitor conditions
- Encourage the use of reflective clothing, as well as light and loose-fitting materials
- In outdoor settings, provide sunscreen and give employees the option to wear hats as long as they don’t conflict with other PPE guidelines
- Provide cooling neck wraps and jackets or vests with built-in ice packs to help reduce body temperature
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