We all have an obligation to provide employees with a safe work place, and under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) General Duty Clause, the courts have decided heat related hazards apply. Hazardous heat conditions can occur indoors or out, and at any time of the season, but in the peak of the summer, the risk for heat-related illness is increased. Know how to promote job site awareness and protect your workforce.
The Dog Days of Summer
Ensuring adherence to required Personal Protective Equipment, sun or heat exposure, and mitigating heat stress is an especially important and delicate balance for construction leadership during the dog days of summer. Physical labor adds to the mix, for greater potential incidents.
Ensuring adherence to required Personal Protective Equipment, sun or heat exposure, and mitigating heat stress is an especially important and delicate balance for construction leadership during the dog days of summer. Physical labor adds to the mix, for greater potential incidents.
Know The Risks
• Strenuous physical labor
• Warm or hot environmental conditions
• Non breathable clothing
• Lack of acclimation to extreme environment
Protect Your People
Even though OSHA requires the ready availability of first aid personnel and equipment, you can go above and beyond protocols by implementing a few simple practices:
• Have a written safety plan for extreme heat conditions. This might include things like a flag system for changes throughout the day, an individual physiological heat stress rating scale system, a different color vest or helmet for those at greater risk as allowed by labor laws or at the option of the employee if allowed, or administrative controls or assignment rotations to limit exposure in the work day.
• Train a specific designee to monitor heat safety on the job site
• Be sure your entire team is familiar with heat-related stress or illness symptoms
• Encourage workers to look out for each other, especially high-risk, new and unacclimated employees
• Provide a shade area for rest, sunscreen, and a constant water supply
For more information about heat-related safety for your workplace, visit the OSHA website.
For more information on how the right tools and equipment can help you reduce worker stress and exertion to keep your people safe, call Atlantic Lift Systems at 844-70-RENTS to tell us about your challenges. Our field representatives will source you with the right equipment, where you need it, when you need it.
Visit our website for custom Safety Training Solutions.
