Summer Safety Zone: Identifying and Preventing Heat-Related Illnesses

Summer 2021 Identifying and Preventing Heat-Related Illnesses With summer just around the corner, many people think of barbecues, baseball and swimming pools, but for those that have to work in the heat on a regular basis, heat-related illnesses are a very serious condition to consider. There are four types of heat illnesses: heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Do you know the signs and symptoms? Heat rash is caused by sweating and looks like a red cluster of pimples or small blisters. Heat rash may appear on the neck, upper chest, groin, under the breasts and elbow creases Heat cramps are muscle pains usually caused by the loss of body salts and fluid during sweating. Heat exhaustion is indicated by headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, confusion, thirst, heavy sweating and a body temperature greater than 100.4°F Heat stroke occurs when the body's temperature regulating system fails and body temperature rises to critical levels (greater than 104°F). This is a medical emergency that may result in death! The signs of heat stroke are confusion, loss of consciousness and seizures. Immediately call 911 if you or someone you know is experiencing heat stroke. There are several ways to prevent or reduce heat-related illnesses. In an occupational setting, employers should develop a Heat Illness Prevention Program. The following considerations should be included in the program: a person designated to oversee the Heat Illness Prevention Program hazard identification water, rest, shade acclimatization to the work environment modified work schedules training monitoring for signs and symptoms emergency planning and response Remember heat illnesses can occur and may result in death! Take proper precautions to avoid any heat-related illnesses in your workplace this summer. Noise in the Workplace Noise can and will cause serious effects to workers in the workplace if protections are not put in place. Some of these effects may be temporary, but other effects can cause permanent life altering changes. Effects and stresses associated with noise may include decreased performance and production, complex psychological activities becoming increasingly difficult and impaired dexterity. In addition, noise levels over 90 dB can weaken mental performance, affect sleep and increase heart rate and blood pressure. Four critical risk factors are associated with noise: noise level, frequency, duration and distribution. Other factors which may be considered are age, coexisting hearing disease, environment, distance from the source and ear position related to sound waves. According to OSHA standards, noise exposure less than 80 dB is considered safe, and a time-weighted average of 85 dB over an eight-hour period is the maximum exposure to be safely tolerated without protection. There are some basic requirements listed by OSHA regarding a hearing conservation program. This includes monitoring noise to determine if a hazard exists, determining the extent of noise interference with speech or warning signals, identifying workers who should be included in a hearing program, classifying the noise exposure and evaluating noise sources and control efforts. The use of engineering tools/concepts and administrative controls is necessary. Some examples include reduction of noise source, interruption of the noise pathway and reduction of reverberation and structure-borne vibration. Audiometric evaluation is another requirement that measures the hearing threshold of workers. This determines whether a hearing loss program is successful. For best results, audiograms should be done before employment, prior to working in a known noisy work area, annually (if employee continually works in a noisy area), at time of reassignment, and employee termination. Hearing protection is a requirement with a choice of passive earmuffs, electronic earmuffs, active hearing devices or earplugs. Education and record-keeping is essential to OSHA's hearing protection program. Employing an effective program that is accurate, complete and validated by employees is vital to keeping employees safe from noise-related hazards. Safe Driving The pandemic's lockdown and stay at home orders kept many drivers off U.S. roads and highways. Some of those individuals who did drive, however, took advantage of the lower traffic volume to drive more carelessly, leading to a sharp increase in crash fatalities. Traffic volume is getting back to pre-COVID, yet bad driving behaviors are still continuing. As summer is approaching, the construction industry is ramping up to their busiest season of the year. Approximately 85% of people killed in work zones are motorists, not workers, with rear-end crashes being the most common type in road construction areas. Here are the top five contributing circumstances for work zone crashes (not necessarily in order): distracted/inattentive, following too close, improper lane usage, too fast for conditions, and failed to yield. In 2019, 881 people lost their lives in Missouri traffic crashes. MoDOT has recently rolled out the "Buckle Up Phone Down" campaign. This challenge calls on everyone who enters a vehicle to buckle their safety belt, and if you're a driver, put the cell phone down. Between 2017-2019, 60% of vehicle drivers and passengers killed in Missouri weren't wearing seatbelts. The average text message takes five seconds to read; if you're on the road, you know it only takes a split second to look away and have conditions change. Make this challenge a personal goal for yourself every time you climb into a car, and challenge your friends and loved ones as well. Do your part to make Missouri's roads safer!   Questions? Contact Us STAY CONNECTED: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Subscriptions  |  Help This email was sent to ignoble.experiment@arconati.us using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Missouri Department of Labor · P.O. Box 59 · Jefferson City, MO 65104-0059 · 1-800-320-2519