Heat illnesses can occur when people are exposed to extreme heat for an extended period of time. It may produce a range of physical symptoms from headaches, nausea, and disorientation, to severe physical conditions including, long term disability, unconsciousness, organ failure, and even death.

So why are we talking about heat illness at the beginning of March, when half of the country is in a deep freeze? Not all heat illnesses are the result of extreme outdoor temperatures. Many work environments are excessively hot year around, due to the equipment or processes that are part of the work environment. People who work near smelters, furnaces, ovens, forges, engine rooms, or even in some food packaging plants, are often exposed to excessive, prolonged heat. To further exacerbate this problem, many of them must also wear protective clothing and their work requires continuous physical exertion. Both factors will further elevate the employee’s internal body temperature. Just because it’s freezing outside doesn’t mean workers are safe from heat illness.

The other reason we are talking about heat illness in March is because summer is right around the corner. If your workforce will be impacted by excessive heat this summer, now is the time to develop your standard operating procedures (SOP) to mitigate the dangers of excessive heat. 

As the climate warms, NOAA/OSHA is more focused on combatting this growing workplace hazard, and they’re holding employers accountable for excessive heat in both indoor and outdoor work environments. Having a defined SOP in place, and training your staff to recognize hazardous conditions, so they know when to implement your heat mitigation policy, demonstrates that your business is taking this potential hazard seriously. If you need help with a heat mitigation policy, you can access our free report here and read more about OSHA’s policies at this link.

In addition to developing a new heat SOP you can install HeatAlert™ Monitoring Stations in all your work zones to provide a visual notification whenever the heat index reaches moderate or dangerous levels.

It may be early spring right now, but excessive summer heat is right around the corner. Act NOW! Don’t wait until it’s 105+ degrees outside

•     to develop your Heat Mitigation SOP

•     to train your staff to recognize the hazardous conditions

•     to install HeatAlert™ Monitoring Stations in every work environment