How to Prevent Heat Stress on the Job Site

Temperatures are rising, making heat stress a growing threat to the health and productivity of workforces worldwide. Heat stress occurs when heat exposure causes strain on the body. It can lead to conditions like heatstroke, fainting, exhaustion, cramps, rashes, and injuries from burns or falling.

Heat stress affects workers who exert themselves outdoors in hot weather and those laboring in hot indoor settings. Industries most vulnerable to heat stress include construction and agriculture, but health and safety professionals in any company with employees exposed to high temperatures should be concerned.

Well over 3,000 incidents involving heat-related injury and illness cause workers to miss workdays annually in the United States. Other employees affected by heat may be able to continue working, but not to their full potential. The U.S. loses $100 billion each year due to heat-related productivity losses. If employers do nothing, this number is estimated to reach $500 billion by 2050.

12 Tips for Preventing Heat Stress on the Job Site

Minimizing heat stress requires a plan with practical measures to protect your staff. Here are some effective strategies for heat stress prevention in the workplace.

1. Conduct a Risk Assessment

Before you can mitigate the risks of heat stress, you need to identify them. Conduct a thorough investigation of when, where, and how your employees could be exposed to heat stress. This involves examining the following:

• Air temperatures
• Humidity
• Work rate
• Work clothing
• Heat-generating or conducting equipment

When checking the temperature, use a wet-bulb thermometer test. This test involves covering a thermometer’s bulb with a moist cloth. Since the evaporating water will cool the thermometer, the test gauges the potential for evaporation to cool the air.

The wet-bulb temperature reflects how our bodies cool by sweating. It can more accurately represent how people will experience heat than a plain air temperature test. Exposure to wet-bulb temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit carries a risk of heat stress for healthy employees. However, heat stress can also occur at lower temperatures depending on how dry or humid the air is, the employee’s personal risk factors, and the level of exertion required.

2. Promote Overall Health

Not all workers are equally susceptible to heat stress. Physical factors like age, weight, metabolism, pregnancy, and various medical conditions can make workers more sensitive to heat. However, preventable health problems also increase the risks of heat stress, so explore how your company can encourage workers to improve their health.

For example, provide resources and programs to help workers improve their nutrition and physical fitness or overcome excessive drinking, smoking, or drug use.

3. Establish a Heat Illness Prevention Program

Implement safety standards and emergency protocols in your workplace. Define heat levels and limit the time and effort allowed in hot conditions. Integrate heat stress prevention practices, like those outlined in this article, into your company’s policies and job site culture.

4. Educate and Train Your Team

Workers, supervisors, and management must all understand the risks and symptoms of heat stress. Common symptoms of heat stress include:

• Fatigue
• Difficulty focusing
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness, and fainting
• Excessive sweating
• Blurry vision

Provide education and training so they know what to look for and how to respond if they detect signs of heat stress in themselves or others. If workers peform unsupervised tasks while exposed to heat, have them work in pairs to ensure each other’s safety.

5. Limit Heat Exposure

Reduce your workers’ time spent performing strenuous tasks in the hottest conditions as much as possible. For example, schedule their lunch break for the hottest hour of the day and their most intense physical labor for the cooler hours.

6. Help Workers Acclimate

When heat exposure is unavoidable, adjust schedules and workloads to give employees time to adapt to working in the heat. For example, new employees or anyone recovering from a recent illness should have less time working in hot conditions. Gradually increase exposure within safe limits as workers increase their heat tolerance.

7. Implement Frequent Breaks

Employees working in hot conditions need more than one break to be productive and safe. Schedule intermittent rest periods adjusted for employees’ heat and effort levels and their heat tolerance. Allow voluntary breaks when employees experience signs of heat stress.

Outdoor workers should spend these breaks in the shade, using this time to hydrate and allow their bodies to dissipate excess heat.

8. Enhance Air Circulation

Reduce temperatures through air conditioning, fans, and ventilation systems. Ventilation should effectively let in fresh, cooler air and remove hot air. Implement barriers to protect workers from radiant heat and install shade structures if they work outside.

9. Support Hydration

Hydration is essential for effective heat stress prevention on the job site. Supply cool water and encourage employees to drink a cup of water every 15-20 minutes before, during, and after heat exposure. Sports drinks with balanced electrolytes support hydration further; however, avoid ones that contain excessive sugar. Educate employees about how caffeine or alcohol in their systems can increase the risk of dehydration.

10. Monitor Health and Environmental Changes

Each employee’s heat tolerance will change over time. Monitor any changes in their risk factors, including:

• Required physical effort
• Outdoor temperatures
• Indoor heat exposure
• Pregnancy
• Aging
• New medications
• Illness
• Consumption of harmful substances
• Changes in physical fitness
• Shifts in diet

11. Leverage Tools and Machines

Explore any technologies and equipment that can reduce the effort your employees need to exert while exposed to heat. The more you can lighten their loads, the more productive they can be in hot conditions.

For example, an air-conditioned excavator with a hydraulic breaker attachment makes it easier to break up concrete, asphalt, and rock. This eliminates the need for a sledgehammer to break up these materials manually. The long-term productivity gains can outweigh the costs of investing in new tools and machines.

12. Supply Appropriate Attire

Give workers the lightest, most breathable clothing (like cotton) compatible with their work and other safety priorities. Provide outside workers with sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, and loose-fitting clothing if it is safe for their tasks. Protective equipment may increase the risk of heat stress, so look into more breathable designs or compensate with extra rest and hydration.

Understand Safety Standards With NASP

Creating a safer workplace may seem challenging. In addition to the risks of heat stress and other occupational hazards, extensive regulations and best practices must be implemented.

Fortunately, a safer job site and regulatory expertise are within your reach. What you need is real-world training built by safety professionals for safety professionals. That’s where The National Association of Safety Professionals (NASP) comes in.

NASP offers various professional safety certificates and courses in both instructor-led and online learning modes. Our interactive, practical approach to workplace safety training will help you become a high-value safety professional and protect your staff from hazards like heat stress.

Browse our catalog of safety courses and certificates to invest in your career and your job site’s safety today.