It’s hot. Very hot. And while most of us will agree that such extreme heat is unpleasant, it’s also dangerous. For those who work outside, it can even be deadly. Both workers and employers should be extra cautious about health and safety in such times of extreme heat. Illness from heat can rack up costly Worker’s Compensation claims and missed work time if the proper precautions are not taken. The information below about illnesses caused by heat, and precautions that can be taken to guard against them, was taken from the Center for Disease Control’s website.
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Have you ever been working in your yard on a hot day, and decided to cool yourself off by spraying yourself down with the water hose? Instantly, you feel cooler, and even the faintest breeze cools you down dramatically. Sweating is essentially the body’s way of naturally spraying you down with a hose when there isn’t one around.
When a person’s body temperature becomes too high, the body sweats so that the water on the skin can evaporate and cool the body. However, when conditions are too humid for the sweat to evaporate effectively, workers become hot and tired more easily. “Alertness and mental capacity also may be affected. Workers who must perform delicate or detailed work may find their accuracy suffering, and others may find their comprehension and retention of information lowered.”
Heat can often result in safety problems, as hot workers face accidents due factors such as sweaty palms, dizziness, or the fogging of safety glasses, as well as irritability.
Heat Stroke
The most dangerous result of overheating is heat stroke. When a person becomes overly hot, and loses large amounts of fluid by sweating, heat exhaustion can occur due to excessive loss of salt. Symptoms include extreme weakness, fatigue, digginess, nausea, and/or headache.
When a person suffering from heat exhaustion’s conditions worsens, heat stroke may occur. “A heat stroke victim's skin is hot, usually dry, red or spotted. Body temperature is usually 105°F or higher, and the victim is mentally confused, delirious, perhaps in convulsions, or unconscious. Unless the victim receives quick and appropriate treatment, death can occur.”
“Any person with signs or symptoms of heat stroke requires immediate hospitalization. However, first aid should be immediately administered. This includes removing the victim to a cool area, thoroughly soaking the clothing with water, and vigorously fanning the body to increase cooling.”
Drink water, and lots of it!
“In the course of a day's work in the heat, a worker may produce as much as 2 to 3 gallons of sweat. Because so many heat disorders involve excessive dehydration of the body, it is essential that water intake during the workday be about equal to the amount of sweat produced. Most workers exposed to hot conditions drink less fluids than needed because of an insufficient thirst drive. A worker, therefore, should not depend on thirst to signal when and how much to drink. Instead, the worker should drink 5 to 7 ounces of fluids every 15 to 20 minutes to replenish the necessary fluids in the body.”
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/86-112/
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