OSHA helps workers, employers beat the heat

Words: Jesse AhernEvery year, dozens of workers are killed by heat, and thousands more experience heat-related illnesses. With summer heat on the rise across the nation, workers and employers are turning to OSHA's Heat Safety Tool for help staying safe in the heat. In all, more than 148,000 users have downloaded this life-saving app since its launch in August 2011.

As temperatures soared well past 100 degrees in Phoenix on July 1, OSHA staff joined representatives from the Phoenix City Council, Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar Advertising, Christy Signs, the American Society of Safety Engineers, and the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health to promote OSHA’s "Water. Rest. Shade." campaign. Lamar and Clear Channel have posted heat campaign billboards across the country.

In a July 7 article in The Washington Post, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels explained employers' obligation to protect construction crews, road workers, farm workers, trash collectors and others who are working outdoors this summer in high heat – including temporary workers who often are not used to working in heat and need to be acclimated. The Post article highlighted OSHA's interactive map that plots heat-related fatalities among outdoor workers between 2008 and 2013.

For more information and free resources, visit OSHA's Heat Illness Prevention page. To order quantities of OSHA's heat illness educational materials in English or Spanish, call OSHA's Office of Communications at 202-693-1999.

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