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Working in the
heat can be fatal or cause serious health problems. During the summer
of 2005, 25 workers in California were sent to hospitals for
heat-related illnesses and 13 died. Risk of heat illness is highest for
workers who are not accustomed to working in the heat and during
prolonged heat waves. California employers with employees working
outdoors are required to provide: 1) access to shade
in a relatively cool area (i.e., not inside a hot car), 2) ready access
to sufficient quantities of cool drinking water (one quart per employee
per hour), and 3) employee and supervisor training in heat illness
prevention, recognition and appropriate emergency responses.
Symptoms of heat
illness can include headache, weakness, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting,
rapid pulse, excessive sweating or no sweating, fainting, red or pale
skin, confusion and irritability, convulsions and loss of consciousness.
Persons who exhibit heat illness symptoms should be taken to the shade
to rest; cooled with water or ice applied to the body, especially the
face, neck and under the arms; and encouraged to drink water if they are
conscious while immediate medical attention is being obtained. It
is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for
enforcing these rights.
AWHP advocates
worked with Cal-OSHA to develop the new regulations and wanted the
regulations to also require more frequent rest periods during hot
weather, and shade for all break and meal periods. AWHP
advocates monitor conditions in the fields to insure that employers are
complying with the heat illness regulations, and intervene, when
necessary, to ensure compliance.
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