If you can’t stand the heat—OSHA has some thoughts about that
With the increasing level of warmth due to climate change, the impact on occupational safety regulations borders on the inevitable (joining death and taxes). And that inevitability has resulted in OSHA moving forward with some “advice” to prevent heat-related illness and injury. For those of you invested in the consumption of legalese, you can find the proposed rule here. We still haven’t gotten to the public comment phase yet, so this will likely be a different beast by the time it goes into effect. However, there are certainly many elements that are worthy of consideration now (after all, we’re only just past the halfway mark of the summer), particularly in those environments in which heat is a constant (e.g., sterilizer equipment rooms, boiler plants, construction areas, landscaping/grounds, kitchens, etc.).
As with any risk to be effectively managed, the process is best served by an assessment of that risk (that statement certainly has a ring of familiarity) and the implementation of mitigation strategies to ensure that folks are well-protected in those environments. As a starting point, the folks at the National Institute for Occupational Health & Safety (NIOSH) have developed an app that focuses on heat safety (details can be found here). The linked page also includes some other considerations, depending on the types of environments you’re dealing with. As far as hospitals go, there’s probably already a good sense of what environments might be in the mix, so taking the next steps in assessing the risks quantitatively makes a lot of sense. Most heat-related illnesses and injuries are preventable, and establishing a safety support program increases the effectiveness of that prevention activity.
As a closing thought, there was a fascinating article on LinkedIn, penned by Jim Rogers, that provides an insightful analysis of the proposed rule and some thoughts on things that one could do now to manage these risks. I have no reason to think that the heat of summer is going to be diminishing any time soon, and this is likely an effort that will pay dividends over the long term.
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Chartis Group. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is an advisory board member for Accreditation and Quality Compliance Center. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.