The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) announced on September 10 that its Heat Stress Mobile App is now available to help workers, employers, and safety professionals address the increased risk of heat illnesses posed by rising temperatures.
The app, available for Android and Apple mobile phones, was developed by heat safety experts from the AIHA’s Thermal Stress Working Group through a partnership with East Carolina University.
“As climate change continues, AIHA recognizes the need to better protect workers from heat stress—which is why our team of occupational and environmental health and safety experts worked so diligently to develop an app that can more accurately gauge heat stress risks in real time, unlike any tool offered previously,” AIHA CEO Lawrence D. Sloan said in a statement.
The AIHA’s app allows users to enter the following customized information that factors into their overall heat stress risk assessment:
- Location (Multiple locations can be selected.)
- Intensity of workload (Users can select light, moderate, heavy, or very heavy.)
- Clothing type (six different options)
- Cloud coverage (degree of sun exposure)
- Preferred language (English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish)
Combining user-entered information with weather data from the local National Weather Service, the app calculates an individual’s Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index, a recognized standard for evaluating potential heat stress. The app also provides heat alerts based on users’ work schedule and the current heat stress risk level at their location, as well as recommended health interventions like rest breaks and water consumption.
There’s no federal heat injury and illness prevention standard, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a proposed standard August 30. If adopted, it would require employers to develop and implement heat injury and illness prevention plans (HIIPPs) with input from and the involvement of nonmanagerial employees and their representatives. Employers with more than 10 employees would be required to have written plans, and all employers would need to designate one or more heat safety coordinators.
Comments on the federal proposal are due December 30.
A handful of states have heat illness prevention program standards, and Minnesota has a standard for exposure to heat and cold.
California has had a state standard for heat exposure at outdoor workplaces, which includes requirements for acclimatization to high temperatures, rest breaks, water, and shade. This summer, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted an indoor heat standard to complement the state’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard.
The AIHA is an association of researchers and safety and health professionals. Over half of its nearly 8,500 members are certified industrial hygienists.
“The AIHA app is a resource that can be used by outdoor workers and their supervisors to estimate the level of heat exposure in their work environment,” Margaret C. Morrissey, the chair of the AIHA’s Thermal Stress Working Group, said in a statement.
“The AIHA app is one of many tools to assist supervisors to make decisions about the impact heat has on their workers’ health and safety and adjust workloads accordingly.”