Protect Your Team from the Heat
While you may be used to summer’s sizzling temperatures, your team could face serious danger. Are you taking the proper steps to protect them?
Many of today’s farm employees may lack previous farm or other outdoor employment experience, so dealing with weather-related conditions may be new to them, not to mention the difference among individuals who may or may not be acclimatized to high heat conditions, explains Melissa O’Rourke, fam management specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
Particular employees – such as older workers, those who are overweight or have heart-related medical conditions – may have an even lower-than-average sensitivity to heat and require additional monitoring, O’Rourke shared in a recent Iowa State University resource guide.
In general, she says, farm workers can become overheated in one of two ways:
- The heat from the environmental conditions in which they work.
- An individual generating internal heat by physical labor.
O’Rourke encourages farm owners and supervisors to manage employee work conditions where heat stress may occur. Possible considerations include:
- Acclimatize newer farm employees to hot work and weather conditions by exposing them for progressively longer periods.
- When possible, schedule hot jobs for the cooler part of the day - and where preventative maintenance and repair jobs may occur in hot areas, schedule these tasks for cooler months.
- Tasks that require physical exertion during hot conditions should either be scheduled during the cooler part of the day – or provide more frequent-than-usual rest and cool-off periods. Assigning extra employees to reduce the work-load may also help.
- Provide workers with rest periods in cool or shaded areas and provide cool water or liquids to employees.
- Where enclosed areas are not air-conditioned, provide adequate fans and ventilation to assure air movement.
- Encourage employees to consume sufficient liquids so that they do not become thirsty or dehydrated. NOTE: It is important to remember dehydration can occur in any weather conditions, including very cold weather. Always consume adequate fluids year-round.
- Encourage employees to wear light, loose-fitting breathable clothing.
- Where protective clothing or personal protective equipment is necessary, additional monitoring is required as this can increase the risk of heat stress.
- Monitor workers who may have additional heat stress risk factors.
Heat-related illnesses can range from fainting to heat rash to heat strokes.
Heat stroke occurs when the body is unable to control its internal temperature, the body temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. Heat stroke symptoms include hot, dry skin or profuse sweating, hallucinations, chills, throbbing headache, high body temperature, confusion or dizziness and slurred speech. First aid should include the following steps:
- Call 911.
- Move the employee to a cool shaded area and fan the body.
- Cool the worker by soaking, spraying, sponging or showering them with water.
Consider a quick safety meeting for your team about heat-related issues, O’Rourke suggests. Even a five-minute stand-up talk (where workers are gathered for reminders of how to prevent and monitor the possibility of heat stress) can save lives.
Download these posters to print and display on the farm and/or provide a heat stress card that summarizes this important information. Publications are available in English, Spanish, and other languages, as well as low-literacy resources.
