Can You Stand The Heat?

We may love being a 'sunburnt country' but all the facts and figures show that excessive heat is dangerous. As employers, it is your duty to keep your workers safe from the risks of working in the heat. In relation to this, SafeWork Australia released a new guide on 8th December 2017 called 'Managing The Risks of Working in Heat'.

As SafeWork Australia points out, working in heat can be hazardous and can cause harm to workers. If the body has to work too hard to keep cool or starts to overheat a worker begins to suffer from heat-related illness. This is a general term to describe a range of progressive heat related conditions including fainting, heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

What Is Heat Related Illness?

Heat-related illness is a progressive condition and if left untreated it can be fatal. If you think someone has severe heat exhaustion, or heat stroke, you should call an ambulance immediately and perform first aid until ambulance arrives. For the early stages of heat-related illness first aid can often be effective, but you should always seek medical assistance if in doubt, or if the person's symptoms are severe.

 "Heat is a hazard in many Australian workplaces, whether work is performed indoors or outdoors," said Safe Work Australia CEO Michelle Baxter. "With the onset of warmer months, now is a good time for workplaces to review their controls for working in hot conditions and take steps to ensure workers are safe."

The 2017 SHARC Report (Skin Health Australia Report Card) emphasizes that skin health is a workplace issue and that 45% of people are employed in jobs that sometimes, regularly or always require them to be outdoors.  Yet disappointingly, most employers do not provide protective measures such as sunscreen, protective clothing, sunglasses or gloves. For those who work outside, only 43% of their employers provided sunscreen, 34% provide protective clothing and 20% each provided sunglasses or gloves.  

Employer's Responsibility

A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the following:

• Ventilation to enable workers to carry out work without risk to health and safety
• Workers are able to carry out work without risk to health and safety when working in extremes of heat or cold
• In order to control the risks associated with working in the heat, you must do everything that is reasonably practicable including:
• Cancelling certain work tasks
• Rescheduling tasks to cooler parts of the day  
• Waiting for hot conditions to pass

If you cannot eliminate the risk, you must minimise it as much as reasonably practicable. Remember, heat that represents a hazard to workers may be generated by more than just weather conditions.

The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists

In 2001 the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH) established the Heat Stress Working Group to develop a standard and relevant documentation in relation to risks associated with hot environments. This group produced "The heat stress standard and documentation developed for use in the Australian environment (2003)."  
Since that time there have been a number of developments in the field and it was identified that the standard and documentation were in need of review.  As a result "A guide to managing heat stress: developed for use in the Australian environment (2013)" and associated documentation have been produced and now replace the previous standard and documentation publications.  It provides guidance based on current scientific research, and lets you decide which appropriate strategies to employ to manage heat stress in your workplace.

Risks Associated With Heat

• Exposure to direct sunlight, especially during the hottest part of the day.
• Exposure to reflected heat from construction materials, polished aluminium and glass.
• Carrying out strenuous tasks or work for sustained long periods.
• Exposure to additional heat from machinery.
• Inadequate cooling off, rest periods or insufficient water consumption.
• Climatic conditions (low air movement, high humidity, high temperature).
• Inappropriate clothing.
• Factors that may cause dehydration such as poor diet, vomiting, diarrhoea or alcohol and caffeine consumption.

Enjoy our beautiful Australian summer but also think about your employees. You need to put in place measures to ensure the work environment poses no risk to health and safety but equally be vigilant of the early warning signs of workers affected by heat stress.