Heat Illness Prevention Rules Now Apply to All Outdoor Workplaces

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

The industries subject to all provisions of the regulation include:
Agriculture; construction; landscaping; oil and gas extraction; and transportation and delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials. There is an exemption for employees who are not performing loading or unloading duties but who are operating an air-conditioned vehicle.

New Definitions
There are several new definitions in the regulations, including:
"shade"—which can be artificial or natural if it meets the other requirements; and "temperature"—with instructions on how and where to take the temperature reading.

Shade Requirements
If the temperature is 85 degrees, the shade must accommodate at least 25 percent of the employees. Additionally, if the temperature is less than 85 degrees, shade must be provided initially, or upon request from an employee. The employees must be allowed and encouraged to take a break in the shade for at least five minutes, when they feel the need to do so to protect themselves from overheating.

High Heat Procedures
When the temperature reaches 95 degrees, additional requirements must be met by the industries listed above as subject to all provisions of the regulation.

The additional requirements include: Providing and maintaining an effective communication system so that employees at the work site can contact a supervisor when necessary. The system/communication may be direct voice contact, observation or electronic, such as a cell phone or text messaging device, but only if reception in the area is reliable.

Observing employees for symptoms of heat illness
• Reminding employees periodically throughout the shift to drink plenty of water.
• Closely supervising a new employee for the first 14 days of employment, unless the employee has been doing similar outdoor work for at least 10 of the past 30 days for four or more hours per day.

Training
Training must be provided for employees who are reasonably expected to be exposed to the risk of heat illness, and to their supervisors as well.

The following training must be provided to all such employees and supervisors:
• The environmental and personal risk factors for heat illness, as well as the added burden of heat load on the body caused by exertion, clothing, and personal protective equipment.
• The employer’s procedures for complying with the requirements of this standard.
• The importance of frequent consumption of small quantities of water, up to four cups per hour, when the work environment is hot and employees are likely to be sweating more than usual in performing their duties.
• The importance of acclimatization.
• The different types of heat illness, and the common signs and symptoms of heat illness.
• The importance to employees of immediately reporting to the employer, directly or through the employee’s supervisor, symptoms or signs of heat illness in themselves, or in co-workers.
• The employer’s procedures for responding to symptoms of possible heat illness, including how emergency medical services will be provided should they become necessary.
• The employer’s procedures for contacting emergency medical services, and if necessary, for transporting employees to a point where they can be reached by an emergency medical service provider.
• The employer’s procedures for ensuring that, in the event of an emergency, clear and precise directions to the work site can and will be provided as needed to emergency responders.
• The employer must designate someone to be available to invoke the emergency procedures when necessary.

Before assigning supervisors for the outdoor workers, the supervisors must also receive training about:
• The procedures the supervisor is to follow to implement the applicable provisions in this section.
• The procedures the supervisor is to follow when an employee exhibits symptoms consistent with possible heat illness, including emergency response procedures.
• How to monitor weather reports and how to respond to hot weather advisories.

More Information
Additional information on regulations is available in the law library at HRCalifornia.com or click on "Heat Illness Prevention" on Cal/OSHA’s website at www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH.