OSHA Gives Clarity to Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard

In an effort to clarify the goals of a new “programmatic standard that could require employers to create a plan to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace,” OSHA released several options to their proposed Heat Injury and Illness prevention in outdoor and Indoor Work Settings standard.

Basing many of the newly proposed control methods on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Criteria for a Recommended Standard, OSHA is looking to create something that would cover both indoor and outdoor work across all industries that the agency oversees.

There would be some exemptions though, and those would include: short-term exposures (15 minutes in hazardous conditions each hour), emergency operations, work from home, certain seated or light activities, or areas where mechanical ventilation is maintaining proper conditions.

These standards would also likely require employers to create written heat injury and illness prevention programs, or update existing ones to include procedures that identify when heat hazards exist for employees, procedures for implementing engineering controls, administrative controls, high-heat procedures, procedures for when employees are exhibiting symptoms of heat-related illness and emergency response procedures.

The new measures would also require training of employees and supervisors, and the selection of designated individuals for oversight and monitoring.

If you are worried that your current plan and procedures do not align with these new OSHA proposals, NASP offers site-specific mock OSHA inspections, as well as reviews of all site Plans and Procedures. Email us at [email protected] for more information or follow this link to request a quote.

Enroll in NASP’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Specialist (HIIPS) Course