According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 18 of the last 19 summers were the hottest on record.
Virginia is not immune from extreme summer temperatures. Over the past five years, VRSA has received more than 100 claims of employees experiencing illness and injury due to heat exposure in the workplace.
Many of these employees experienced heat illness while contributing to the essential services provided by their entity – including Virginia’s cities, counties, and towns.
To help prevent and reduce these incidents, OSHA adopted a National Heat Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat Hazards designed to protect workers from extreme heat. The program is designed to protect employees exposed on “Heat Priority Days,” defined as those when temperatures exceed 80 degrees.
While specific protections are not defined, employers may consider regular rest breaks, providing shade, cool water, air conditioning, beginning the work day earlier, job rotation, or any number of other measures that the employer feels will best protect their employees in a given situation.
The program allows OSHA inspections to be targeted based on hazards in plain view and requires the compliance officer to request an entity’s written program covering required employee protections on these Heat Priority Days.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and OSHA have teamed up to develop the Heat Safety smartphone application that can be used to plan outdoor work activities. The app has a real-time heat index and hourly forecasts specific to your location. It also provides information on symptoms and first aid measures of various heat-related symptoms as well as safety and health recommendations.
This application is what is being used by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry when conducting inspections. It is recommended that front-line supervisors keep this application available to them to ensure that they are effectively protecting their workers.
If you have any additional questions or concerns with the Heat Illness National Emphasis Program, please contact your safety consultant at msrs@vrsa.us or 800-963-6800.