Heat Illness Prevention for Agricultural Employers

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Heat Illness Prevention for Agricultural Employers
DIR DOSH/Cal-OSHA
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Cal/OSHA Enforcement

• Investigates
• Accidents
• Complaints
• Conducts
• A Heat Special Emphasis Program
• Programmed inspections (sweeps)
• Compliance Assistance Educational other
  Outreach Efforts

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Heat Illness Prevention Elements Include

• Access to water

• Access to shade

• Written Procedures

• Training

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Access to Water

• Access to sufficient amounts of cool potable
  drinking water shall be available at all times,
  w/at least one quart per employee per hour for
  the entire shift.
• Provided at no cost to the workers.

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Effective Replenishment Procedures

• Must be reliable! It is not reliable if you wait
  until employees request it.
• Designate a person(s) to periodically check the
  level of the water containers.
• Determine how often the containers will be
  checked.
• Check the temperature of the water to see if it
  is cool.

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Encourage the Frequent Drinking of WATER

• Shorten the distance between water and workers.
• To augment, provide individual beverage
  containers.
• Keep water cool in very hot weather, have ice
  on hand.
• Increase the number of water breaks, particularly
  during a heat wave.
• Use daily reminders.

Larry
Sam
Moe
Joe
Curly
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Drink Water Frequently!!!!!!!
Dont wait until you are thirsty!
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No Cups or Empty Container No Access to
Drinking Water!
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Water Readily Accessibleto Workers
Water should be as close to the employee as is
practicable.
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Access to Shade

• Preventative Recovery Period (PRP) shall be
  provided to an employee suffering from heat
  illness or believing that a rest break is needed
  to recover from the heat
• Employees must have access to an area with shade
  that is either open to the air or provided with
  ventilation or cooling for a period of no less
  than 5 minutes

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Where is the Shade?
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Do Workers have to Crawl to Access the Shade?
The shaded area must let employees assume a
comfortable posture and must not cause exposure
to another hazard.
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Is Seeking Shade Exposing Workersto a Hazardous
Condition?
Employers need to set up an adequate number of
shade structures!
There must always be enough shade to accommodate
those employees who seek it to cool off.
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http//www.nws.noaa.gov/
Monitor the Weather
If the prediction on the previous day is for the
temperature high for the area to exceed 85
degrees F, shade must be up as of the beginning
of the shift and present throughout.
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Always Provide Access to Shade
When the temperature high is predicted by NWS to
exceed 85 degrees F, shade will be up.
Regardless of predicted temperature, employers
must always have the capability to provide shade
promptly if it is requested by an employee.
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Is the Amount of Shade Provided Adequate for the
Size of the Crew?
The shaded area should allow employees to sit in
the shade without touching each other.
DOSH considers the amount of shade to be
sufficient if there is enough to accommodate, at
the same time, 25 percent of the employees on a
shift
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Distance to Shade
The nearest shaded area must be as close as
practicable. Usually this will mean that shade
must be reachable within a 2 1/2 minute walk, but
in no case more than 1/4-mile or a five minute
walk away, whichever is shorter.
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Examples of Acceptable Source of Shade
If the temperature exceeds 90 degrees F, shade
must actually be present regardless of the
previous day's predicted temperature high.
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Written Procedures

• The Heat Illness Policy and Procedures can be
  integrated within the IIPP
• Must be made available to representatives of
  Cal/OSHA upon request

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Written Procedures

• Detail how an employer will
• Provide access to water
• Provide access to shade
• Monitor the weather and address lack of
  acclimatization
• Train all employees and supervisors
• Respond to heat illnesses provide emergency
  services without delay.

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Ensure Access to Water Effective Replenishment
Procedures

• Who is assigned to ensure that sufficient
  quantity of water is provided?
• How will potable water be made readily accessible
  to workers?
• How often will refills of water containers take
  place?
• How will workers be encouraged to frequently
  drink water?

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Ensure Access to Shade

• Who is responsible for
• tracking the weather?
• ensuring that access to shade is provided at all
  times?
• ensuring that sufficient shade is provided for
  the size of the crew, and
• that workers are not inadvertently exposed to a
  hazard while seeking shade?

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Monitor the Weather http//www.nws.noaa.gov/

• Who is assigned to track weather information?
• How will weather information be used to modify
  work schedule, increase number of water and rest
  breaks or cease work early if necessary?

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Acclimatization

• Employers are responsible for the working
  conditions of their employees, and must act
  effectively when conditions result in sudden
  exposure to heat their employees are not used to.
  
• Training for employees and supervisors must
  include the importance of acclimatization, how it
  is developed, and how the employers procedures
  address it.

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Track the weather routinely check for heat
waves.
Lessons Learned
Evaluate the Severity of the Environmental Risk
Factors
84 of the Cases Occurred During the July 2006
Heat Wave
Mon
Sun
Tue
Sat
2006 Historical Temp from UC IPM CIMIS
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Address Lack of Acclimatization

• New employees are at higher risk of suffering
  heat illnesses!

• As an employer, how will you
• lessen the intensity of the employees work
  during a two-week break-in period?
• be extra-vigilant with new employees, and
  recognize immediately symptoms of possible heat
  illness?

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Address Lack of Acclimatization

• During a heat wave or sudden heat spike, how will
  you protect your workers from conditions
  resulting from sudden exposure to heat ?

Remember training for employees and supervisors
must include the importance of acclimatization,
how it is developed, and how your procedures
address it!
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Employee Supervisor Training

• Who is assigned to train new employees?
• How will supervisors be trained prior to being
  assigned to supervised outdoor workers?

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Emergency Response Procedures for

• Responding to symptoms of possible heat illness
• Contacting emergency medical services (consider
  language barriers and limited cell phone
  coverage)
• Providing clear and precise directions to the
  worksite.

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When Emergencies Happened, Employers were Found
Unprepared!
Lessons Learned
Emergency procedures are critical to ensure that
emergency assistance is provided without delay
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Responding to Symptoms of Possible Heat Illness
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Heat Illness Signs Symptoms
Heat Exhaustion
Heat Stroke
Heavy sweating, cramps, rapid pulse, headache,
nausea, vomiting
Dry, red, hot skin, high body temperature,
disoriented, confused
NEED MEDICAL HELP
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Contacting Emergency Medical Services
Contacting 911
Steps addressing language barriers
Specifying a medical emergency.
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Providing Clear and Precise Directions to the Site
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Employee Training

• The environmental and personal risk factors for
  heat illness
• Employers heat illness prevention procedures
• Importance of frequent consumptions of small
  quantities of water
• Importance of acclimatization
• Different types of heat illness, common signs and
  symptoms

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Employee Training

• Importance of immediately reporting signs or
  symptoms of heat illness to supervision
• Procedures for responding to possible heat
  illness
• Procedures to follow when contacting emergency
  medical services and if necessary transporting
  employees
• Employers procedures that ensure clear and
  precise directions to the work site will be
  provided to emergency medical services

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Supervisor Training
3395 (e)(2) Supervisor Training

• Same information as required under employee
  training
• Procedures to follow to implement the applicable
  provisions of the standard
• Procedures to follow when an employee exhibits
  symptoms consistent with heat illness, including
  emergency response

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The Impact of Supervisor Training on the Outcome
of Heat Illness
Lessons Learned
For Non-Fatal Heat Illnesses, Supervisor Trained
on Heat Illness Prevention Yes (67) and No (33)
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Supervisor Training is Key!
To implementing and enforcing your procedures
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In Summary

• Heat Illness Prevention Elements Include
• Access to water
• Access to shade
• Written procedures
• Employee and Supervisory Training

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For Additional Information

• Visit the Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Webpage
• http//www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/HeatIllnessInfo.html

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Cal/OSHA Consultations