As temperature and humidity rise during the summer months of the growing season, it is important to prepare yourself and your employees to prevent heat related injuries. Here are some tips:
Train Employees: Train employees on how to identify possible heat stress symptoms and how to prevent or treat them.
Adjust Work Schedule:
• Monitor temperature and humidity, and workers’ condition during periods of hot/humid weather.
• Schedule strenuous work or tasks requiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for the cooler hours of the day.
• Shorten the length of work periods and increase the length of rest periods.
• Give workers shade or cooling during breaks.
• Monitor weather and inform employees of potentially dangerous conditions.
Drinking. Have adequate water available and encourage employees to drink enough to replace fluid loss through sweating.
Adapted from:
https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/preventing-heat-stress-agriculture
Heat-related illnesses and agricultural producers. (2019) Farm and Ranch eXtension in Safety and Health (FReSH) Community of Practice. Retrieved from http://www.extension.org/pages/62261/heat-related-illnesses-and-agricultural-producers.
