As we approach the summer months, the hottest season of the year, this can be a good time to get outside and swim in pools or lakes or rivers to cool off and have some fun. From a safety perspective, this could also be a good time to keep your outdoor workers from working outside during the hottest parts of the day – from about 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. But the summer is the perfect time for the safety officer in you to collide with the professional worker inside you – you know, the one who says that the company does not shut down during the summer, so the workers need to work!
Yes, sometimes we can become a bit schizophrenic this time of year. We want our workers to be safe and healthy when they work so they are able to go home to their families and friends at the end of the shift. However, the company needs those people who work outside or in hot environments (like inside a warehouse or shed) to keep working and be as productive as they can. So, as a professional, it becomes our job as safety officers to make sure to protect those workers from themselves, in effect, and help them work their shifts while also being sensitive to their reactions to the intense summer heat.
[Image courtesy of Flickr user Bark via a Creative Commons license]Heat can definitely take a toll on people who work outside in the summer. As a safety pro, we have a duty to look for the various signs of elevated heat stress and be able to keep workers from being in this position while on the job.
Ultimately, what safety officers are trying to mitigate is not so much the exposure to the heat (because it is pretty much ubiquitous this time of year), but to pay close attention to the amount of heat stress that workers experience while on the job. But what is heat stress, and how can a safety officer spot it in an individual?
What is Heat Stress?
As the name suggests, “heat stress” is a burden on the physical body due to heat – whether external heat (like some high temperatures and/or sunshine) or internal (core body temperature that comes from working hard). By itself, heat stress is pretty normal in that many humans experience it and it may cause some temprary drop in safety, but most of it does not have long-term effects on a worker’s health. However, for the sake of working, it is always best to play it cautious when there are signs of heat stress on a worker where he or she seems to be losing productivity or feeling uncomfortable.
Levels of Heat Stress
There are normal levels of heat stress, like when a worker sweats, that is not so much a cause for concern. it is when there are other physical issues that indicate that a worker is undergoing an abnormally high level of heat stress from overexposure and not enough hydration. The most “mild” form of heat stress is called heat edema, which is basically swelling in certain parts of the body (most commonly the ankles).
A heat rash can develop when pores get clogged, not allowing sweat to escape. Thse pores becoe inflamed, and the rash develops. Sweat is vital to cooling off a body so it does not overheat. Another issue is heat cramps in the muscles, which is what happens when you sweat sufficently but the salt that is lost in the sweat is not replaced sufficiently. Gatorade or Powerade are two popular beverages that outdoor workers or athletes use to restore salt (or electrolytes) into the system after sweating.
When you see any of these occur, you would be advised to get that worker out of the heat for a break to cool off, bringing them inside and having them hydrate properly before sending them back out.
For these next levels of heat stress, you will likely want to bring the workers inside and maybe send them home for the rest of the day and then monitor them when they arrive for their next shift:
Heat exhaustion comes when a person loses too much water and salt. In other words, the person has sweated too much without hydrating at all. This person will feel cramps, nausea, excessive sweating, weakness and dizziness and perhaps diarrhea.
Heat syncope is a condition where a person who is standing suffers from giddiness and fainting due to a lack of blood to the brain. In these cases, blood may well have pooled in the ankles or lower legs, depriving needed oxygen to the brain and causing the condition. In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of getting people acclimated to working in heat; this is why, as heat syncope is common among those who are not used to working in the heat.
The most serious effect of heat stress is what is called heat stroke, which is an elevated body temperature (above 103 degrees or so) and includes either partial or total loss of consciousness. Sweating may be present, but not every time, so do not just watch for that.
As with most things involving humans, checking on the safety and well-being of workers in truly an individual, customized exercise. Five people could all be the same body type, do the same work for the same amount of time in the same hot environment and yet they could all have different levels of heat stress. It is important that you as the safety officer, and supervisors, keep an eye on each individual worker and be liberal in offering breaks to workers so they can stay hydrated, not overexert and still be productive on the work site.
Next time, I will write about the proper ways to take care of these levels of heat stress.