New App Guides Employers Through Implementing Plan To Prevent Heat Related Illness
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says dozens of outdoor workers die each year because of heat related illnesses, and thousands more become sick.
Now, there's a new app that helps employers put together a plan to prevent these illnesses and deaths.
OSHA started its "Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers" in 2011.
Nick DeJesse of the Philadelphia OSHA office says about 100 workers have died from heat illness since then. The key to preventing heat-related issues, he says, starts with the employer having a plan.
"What kind of work is going to be done, what the heat is like in the sense of temperatures and also humidity, so we look at the heat index," he says. "And then judge from there, three key words of this campaign, which are water, rest and then shade."
DeJesse says to make sure there is enough water on the work site, and that employees drink at 15 minute intervals and rest according to the amount of work being done.
He says enough shade should be provided so workers can get out of direct sunlight. You can get the app by searching for "OSHA heat app" online or at the app store.