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Heat-related hazards injured 2,061 and killed 884 people in 2019, according to the National Safety Council. As responsible employers recognize and develop policies or plans to reduce risk to employees who must work in hot and humid conditions, more than just heat and humidity need to be considered. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), […]
Heat stress is a major concern for many different workplaces across the U.S. One important way to help workers deal with the heat is acclimatization, which is where the person becomes better able to handle hot conditions after gradual increased exposure to a hot environment. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers […]
Employers now must address a host of summer workplace hazards while continuing to protect workers in an ongoing pandemic. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is widespread in most U.S. communities and considered a workplace hazard.
Heat is the invisible factor that affects your workforce. This summer and in the summers to come, temperatures are only projected to get hotter and more variable, so it’s increasingly important to know how to keep your employees safe while they work in the heat.
While forces affecting the workplace change rapidly—an aging workforce, new work arrangements, and state adoption of medical and recreational marijuana laws—regulatory changes move at a slower pace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited an Anson, Maine employer in the heat-related death of a worker at a site in Inman, Nebraska. The agency proposed penalties in the amount of $18,564.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is vital to workplace safety, but it can also be uncomfortably hot—and warm weather doesn’t help. New research and products are looking to keep workers cool while wearing PPE without compromising on protection.
Concerns are growing about two occupational health issues: the increased incidence of heat stress and valley fever, a fungal lung infection caused by exposure to dust storms and excavated soil. Cases of valley fever may be spreading beyond the southwestern United States. Some federal agencies and nongovernmental groups claim the rise in heat-related illness and […]
OSHA would have to establish a federal heat stress standard if a bill just introduced in Congress becomes law. The bill, introduced July 10, would require the agency to issue a proposed standard within 2 years and a final regulation within 42 months.
California employers must protect their employees who work outdoors from heat stress under the state’s heat illness prevention regulations, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) warned June 5. Cal/OSHA reminded employers of their obligations under state regulations as the National Weather Service (NWS) issued heat advisories for triple-digit temperatures in Fresno, Kern, Kings […]