What Employers Need to Know About Heat-Related Illnesses

Heat-Prevention Standards

How hot is too hot? According to OSHA, the heat index, which takes temperature and humidity into account, can offer employers guidance. But even though OSHA doesn't have a specific heat-prevention standard, heat citations fall under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The law requires employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.”

More than half of the states in the U.S. have OSHA-approved plans that operate at the state level; they are required to create standards that are at least as effective as those adopted by OSHA.

Bradford Hammock is a partner with Jackson Lewis, practicing exclusively in the safety and health area. The 10-year OSHA lawyer now heads Jackson Lewis's Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group. In his “OSHA Law Blog,” Hammock recently discussed considerations for employers wanting to protect workers from heat-related illness. According to Hammock, heat-related illness, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, is one of the most common injuries he sees in his Reston, VA-based practice.

Employer Liability

Employers can be fined up to $7,000 for heat-related hazards, which are considered serious violations. Despite their prevalence, however, Hammock says OSHA rarely issues citations related to heat. “OSHA is just not out there in any systematic fashion trying to enforce the general duty clause against heat-related illness,” he says. Most citations are the result of a self-reported incident. Under the Act, employers are required to report any fatality or hospitalization of three or more employees within 30 days of an incident.

Almost all of the citations the agency has issued involved the death of a worker. According to a Department of Labor spokesperson, OSHA was aware of just one previous general duty clause citation for a heat hazard that didn't involve a worker fatality.

According to that 2011 citation, employees of Inter Rail Transport Of Palm Center were working outside on an August day with heat indices from 99 to 101.9 degrees Fahrenheit. The employer was ultimately fined $4,200 for allowing “employees to work in a hot environment without the establishment of a heat stress management program which can result in occupational illnesses and injuries.”

Tips for Reducing Illness

Hammock's blog cites these OSHA suggestions for reducing heat-related illness:

• Provide air-conditioned or shaded areas close to the work area, and schedule frequent rest breaks.
• Provide workers with plenty of cool water in convenient, visible locations close to the work area.
• Encourage and remind workers to drink water before they become thirsty ' about every 15 minutes.
• Allow workers to get used to heat conditions by gradually increasing exposure over a five-day work period and by implementing more frequent breaks during the first week of work in those conditions.
• Monitor weather reports daily and reschedule jobs with high heat exposure to cooler times of the day.
• Encourage employees to wear, or provide employees with, light-colored and permeable clothing.
• Monitor workers for signs and symptoms of heat exposure, and encourage employees to report symptoms of any heat-related illnesses.
• Train workers and supervisors about the hazards leading to heat stress and ways to prevent them.
• Implement an emergency plan, and know what to do if someone is experiencing symptoms of a heat-related illness.

Hammock's advice to employers who suspect a worker may be suffering from a heat-related illness is that it's better to be safe than sorry. “It is a very serious illness and sometimes the symptoms aren't perfectly clear,” he says. “Sometimes this can be a fatal situation, so it's always better to err on the safe side. Be conservative and get the type of medical care that the person needs as soon as possible.”

Shannon Green writes for Corporate Counsel, an ALM sister publication of this newsletter in which this article also appeared.

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Despite high temperatures and muggy conditions, companies with employees working outside don't have the luxury of shutting down for the season. But last month, the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trade associations, and employers held safety “stand-downs” at construction sites and other workplaces throughout Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida.

According to OSHA, more than 30 workers have died of heat stroke each year since 2003. Although clusters of worker deaths are found in Texas and California, there are also past incidents in states with cooler climates, such as Wisconsin and New Jersey.

OSHA partnered with the Associated General Contractors of Georgia, Inc., to conduct the instruction sessions outside of Florida. Cherri Watson, AGC Georgia's director of safety, education, and workforce development, said 40 companies signed up to participate. The region's stand-downs took place at 1,130 job sites and involved approximately 51,000 workers. Ninety percent of the stand-down's participants work in the construction industry.

Heat-Prevention Standards

How hot is too hot? According to OSHA, the heat index, which takes temperature and humidity into account, can offer employers guidance. But even though OSHA doesn't have a specific heat-prevention standard, heat citations fall under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The law requires employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.”

More than half of the states in the U.S. have OSHA-approved plans that operate at the state level; they are required to create standards that are at least as effective as those adopted by OSHA.

Bradford Hammock is a partner with Jackson Lewis, practicing exclusively in the safety and health area. The 10-year OSHA lawyer now heads Jackson Lewis's Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group. In his “OSHA Law Blog,” Hammock recently discussed considerations for employers wanting to protect workers from heat-related illness. According to Hammock, heat-related illness, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, is one of the most common injuries he sees in his Reston, VA-based practice.

Employer Liability

Employers can be fined up to $7,000 for heat-related hazards, which are considered serious violations. Despite their prevalence, however, Hammock says OSHA rarely issues citations related to heat. “OSHA is just not out there in any systematic fashion trying to enforce the general duty clause against heat-related illness,” he says. Most citations are the result of a self-reported incident. Under the Act, employers are required to report any fatality or hospitalization of three or more employees within 30 days of an incident.

Almost all of the citations the agency has issued involved the death of a worker. According to a Department of Labor spokesperson, OSHA was aware of just one previous general duty clause citation for a heat hazard that didn't involve a worker fatality.

According to that 2011 citation, employees of Inter Rail Transport Of Palm Center were working outside on an August day with heat indices from 99 to 101.9 degrees Fahrenheit. The employer was ultimately fined $4,200 for allowing “employees to work in a hot environment without the establishment of a heat stress management program which can result in occupational illnesses and injuries.”

Tips for Reducing Illness

Hammock's blog cites these OSHA suggestions for reducing heat-related illness:

• Provide air-conditioned or shaded areas close to the work area, and schedule frequent rest breaks.
• Provide workers with plenty of cool water in convenient, visible locations close to the work area.
• Encourage and remind workers to drink water before they become thirsty ' about every 15 minutes.
• Allow workers to get used to heat conditions by gradually increasing exposure over a five-day work period and by implementing more frequent breaks during the first week of work in those conditions.
• Monitor weather reports daily and reschedule jobs with high heat exposure to cooler times of the day.
• Encourage employees to wear, or provide employees with, light-colored and permeable clothing.
• Monitor workers for signs and symptoms of heat exposure, and encourage employees to report symptoms of any heat-related illnesses.
• Train workers and supervisors about the hazards leading to heat stress and ways to prevent them.
• Implement an emergency plan, and know what to do if someone is experiencing symptoms of a heat-related illness.

Hammock's advice to employers who suspect a worker may be suffering from a heat-related illness is that it's better to be safe than sorry. “It is a very serious illness and sometimes the symptoms aren't perfectly clear,” he says. “Sometimes this can be a fatal situation, so it's always better to err on the safe side. Be conservative and get the type of medical care that the person needs as soon as possible.”

Shannon Green writes for Corporate Counsel, an ALM sister publication of this newsletter in which this article also appeared.

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