Employer Responsibilities

Employers are the first line of defense in preventing heat-related stress and illness. There are four essential steps that employers should take to protect workers. These steps involve preparing for, preventing, and responding to situations in which workers may be at risk from high temperatures and humidity. By making these preparations and involving the team before work begins, employers can play a role in the protection of their team. Education, planning, and being proactive are key components to protecting workers. Preparation steps include the following:

1. Develop a prevention plan for each risk level on the heat index. The plan should include preparations for supplies, emergency planning, worker acclimatization, modified work schedules, training, and monitoring of workers' physiological states through visual and verbal investigation.
2. Train your workers before the temperatures rise. Provide workers with a plan to take once they identify the signs and symptoms of heat-related stress and illness. Reinforce this training when the days are hot!
3. Track the weather for the worksite daily, and assess the risk to your workers. Resources like the National Weather Service provide heat index readings in addition to forecasting temperatures and humidity levels.
4. Implement your plan and precautionary measures when the heat index is 80° Fahrenheit or above. Adjustments to work loads are encouraged at this point.

Part of providing a safe work environment is establishing a plan for first aid response. Employers should discuss the importance of responding quickly and accurately. OSHA recommends that employers establish a system to monitor and report the signs and symptoms of heat illness to improve early detection and action. Many resources suggest a buddy system as an effective way to disseminate the responsibility of monitoring health. Using a buddy system will assist supervisors when watching for signs of heat illness.

Additionally, OSHA suggests that having an emergency plan in place and communicating the plan to supervisors and workers are the best ways to ensure consistent training. Emergency plan considerations include the following:

• What to do when someone is showing signs of heat illness
• How to contact emergency help
• How long it will take for emergency help to arrive, and training workers on appropriate first-aid measures until help arrives

Consider seeking advice from a healthcare professional in preparing a plan.

To learn more about Heat Stress visit our Heat Stress, Illness & Injury Safety Online Training web page.