Every year it is important to remind your employees of tips for preventing heat related emergencies – both while working and at home. It is especially important to inform your first aid team members on recognizing and treating heat related illnesses before the incident becomes medical emergencies.
A helpful prevention assessment tool is The American Industrial Hygiene Association – (AIHA) – free Heat Stress app. We use the app as part of employee training as well as training for emergency response teams.
The app was developed by leading OEHS heat safety experts from the AIHA’s Thermal Stress Working Group in partnership with East Carolina University. The AIHA Heat Stress Mobile App is available as a free download on both iOS and Android platforms.
The app is easy to use, with customized information to calculate Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index—which is the gold standard for evaluating heat stress that incorporates air temperature, relative humidity, wind, and radiant heat—and associated heat stress risk level, including,
- Location (multiple locations can be selected)
- Automatically pulled from local weather data: Air temperature, relative humidity, wind, and radiant heat
- Intensity of workload (users can select light, moderate, heavy, very heavy)
- Clothing type (six different options)
- Cloud coverage (degree of sun exposure)
- Preferred language (English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese)
The key, and often missing component, is to establish a safety policy to address preventing heat related emergencies, especially for employees performing outdoor work during hot weather such as, landscaping, agriculture, maintenance, etc.
Click here for the AHIA app instructions and information. There are also resources available from NIOSH and OSHAon preventing heat related illnesses. Here are links to past DOHS blogs that may provide beneficial information on education, prevention, and policy development.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like additional information.
Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay