News coverage of a dangerous “heat dome” covering our part of the country this week warns of very high temperatures with heat indexes rising as high as 115°. Read, “Dangerous heat wave on the way to Central Illinois,” published by WAND on August 18, 2023, and “Deadly heat takes toll, puts millions at risk of heat-related deaths,” written by Drew Narsutis and published by WISH-TV on August 16, 2023.
What is the heat index? According to the National Weather Service the “heat index” is the “apparent temperature” or “…what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.”
High humidity makes the weather feel even hotter for workers on the job outdoors. This is dangerous because humidity can block the body’s ability to perspire or sweat in order to cool itself. If the human body cannot regulate its internal temperature in this way, serious bodily injury or death can result.
OSHA Issues National Heat Hazard Warning for Workers
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a heat hazard alert for employers across the country, as this extreme heat dome made its way towards Illinois and Indiana. In tandem with this alert came the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announcement that OSHA will increase its efforts to monitor employer compliance with heat safety regulations to try and keep workers safe.
From Acting DOL Secretary Julie Su:
“Historically high temperatures impact everyone and put our nation’s workers at high risk. A workplace heat standard has long been a top priority for the Department of Labor, but rulemaking takes time and working people need help now. Today, at the President’s request, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a heat hazard alert to make sure employers follow current standards and that workers across the country know their rights. This action, combined with OSHA’s increased heat-safety enforcement efforts, shows that we are determined to protect the safety and health of millions of people whose jobs become more hazardous in harsh weather.”
OSHA Warnings to Employers: Protect Workers from High Heat
Several things are being done by OSHA to try and keep workers safe from heat accidents and injuries.
1. New Heat Hazard Alert
First of all, the new 2023 Federal Heat Hazard Alert intent is “…to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces.” Employers should consider themselves cautioned of the need to comply with their legal duties of safety and care in protecting employees from the unusually high heat right now.
What does an OSHA Hazard Alert do? Alerts educate employers (as well as workers and others) on the particular dangers facing workers and provide instruction to employers on how to reduce or eliminate the risks so that workers are protected. Alerts also inform workers on what to do if they believe their employers are failing to keep them safe.
Employers of workers who are on the job indoors as well as outside must take extra care to keep workers safe during these high heat conditions. Their duties of care to protect workers against heat injuries apply to indoor work as well as those working outside in exceptionally high heat.
2. National Emphasis Program on Heat
Secondly, the OSHA National Emphasis Program on Heat first announced in April 2022, will be “fully implemented” now, with intensified enforcement of federal heat safety laws for those working construction and in agriculture.
Employers in both the agri-business and construction industries here in Indiana and Illinois should not be surprised if an OSHA Safety Inspector appears on site to investigate compliance with heat safety regulations.
3. Defined Employer Legal Duty of Care to Protect Against High Heat
Finally, employers and their insurance carriers may point to the lack of a specific federal heat safety regulation today. This is true. Currently, there is a proposed rule designed to protect workers from heat injuries and heat illnesses on the job. It is still in the rulemaking process. For more, follow its progress in the Federal Register with the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.
This does not mean that workers are without legal protections from heat risks on the job, however. There are still legal duties of care and safety that employers must obey. See, for instance, our discussion in What is the Employer’s General Duty Clause?
From OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker:
“As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration works toward proposing a rule to protect workers from heat illness, we are taking several measures today to better protect workers in extreme heat. Employers have a duty to protect workers by reducing and eliminating hazards that expose workers to heat illness or injury…. Regardless of their job or where in the nation they work, workers have the right to a safe and healthy workplace. OSHA will use every tool and mechanism at our disposal to enforce those rights and make sure that every employee ends their workday safe and healthy.”
OSHA Heat Hazard Alert Information for Workers in Illinois and Indiana
There is important information not only for employers but also for workers in Illinois and Indiana within the OSHA Heat Hazard Alert. Workers should be aware of how this heat dome is increasing their risks of injury on the job.
High heat can bring heat injuries or even death to workers. Moreover, working in exceedingly hot worksites brings the risk of other kinds of work accidents, as well.
Heat can make workers fatigued or less alert, increasing the likelihood of an accident. High temperatures will also cause site hazards, such as hot surfaces, that may cause a serious or deadly incident.
The OSHA Heat Hazard Alert warns workers of the following:
- Most states are experiencing an unprecedented heat wave and the U.S. is on track for the hottest summer on record.
- Heat is a well-known and recognized occupational hazard for outdoor and indoor workers that can cause serious or fatal illness when they are not provided the necessary protections and training.
- Each year, thousands of workers become sick from occupational heat exposure, and too many of those illnesses result in fatalities.
- New employees whose bodies have not had time to adjust to working in the heat are most vulnerable — nearly 3 out of 4 workers who die from heat-related causes die in their first week on the job.
- Employer Responsibility It’s the law! Employers have a duty to protect workers against heat. Employers have a legal and moral responsibility not to assign work in high heat conditions without protections in place for workers, where they could be literally worked to death.
- At a minimum, employers should provide adequate cool water, rest breaks, and shade or a cool rest area for employees. Give new or returning employees the chance to gradually acclimatize (or become used to working in hot temperatures), to be trained and plan for emergencies, and to monitor for heat signs/symptoms. Train employees on heat illness prevention, signs of heat illness, and how to act immediately if they or another employee appears to be suffering from a heat related illness.
Heat Accidents and Heat Injuries Suffered by Workers in Illinois and Indiana
Sadly, there will be employers who disregard or disrespect these safety efforts, leaving workers at risk of bodily injury or death on the job. Some employers, managers, or supervisors, may fail to do things like planning ahead to protect workers from heat right now; investigating the special risks that comes with this heat wave and how to protect workers against them; providing proper Personal Protective Equipment for heat conditions; or even bothering to offer extra water, longer rest breaks, or shade.
When employers and others in possession, custody, or control of aspects of the work site fail to keep workers safe from harm, and someone is hurt or killed, then there may be legal avenues for justice available to that worker victim and their loved ones under state or federal law. Claims may proceed under workers’ compensation as well as negligence, product liability, defective products, premises liability, and other laws.
For more, read:
- Extreme Heat on the Job: Danger of Severe Worker Injuries or Death
- Heat and Tires: Summer Heat and Fatal Crashes Caused by Tire Blowouts
- Hot Workplace: Injuries or Death from Heat Exposure in Indoor Work Environments
- 2011 Heat Wave Can Injure and Kill Workers, Secretary of Labor Issues Warning: Illinois and Indiana Workers Be Careful.
Heat records may be broken in Indiana and Illinois this month. Workers on the job, particularly in our construction and agricultural industries, must be given – and deserve — extra protection from the heat right now. Please be careful out there!
