Summer Safety Hazards and How to Protect Your Employees from Them

The summer brings several workplace hazards that can harm employees, especially those working outdoors and/or in areas without climate control. To help mitigate these risks, it’s important to remind your employees about seasonal dangers and take precautionary measures to ensure their safety.

Hazard 1: Heat Stress

“Heat stress” is a term for several heat-related illnesses that can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory complications, renal failure, electrolyte imbalances, and kidney stones in workers. Every year in the United States, an average of 702 heat-related deaths occur. Additionally, on average, there are 67,512 emergency department visits and 9,235 hospitalizations due to the heat.

 Three types of heat-related illness include:

• Heat cramps: Muscle spasms caused by salt and water loss. They often occur in the arms, legs, or trunk (chest, abdomen, pelvis, and back).
• Heat exhaustion: Symptoms include fatigue, irritability, thirst, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or lightheadedness, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature, and rapid heart rate. Any employee experiencing these symptoms should receive first aid.
• Heat stroke: The symptoms include confusion, slurred speech, unconsciousness, seizures, heavy sweating or hot/dry skin, a body temperature above 103 degrees, and a rapid heart rate. This is an emergency medical condition—call 911 immediately.

Incorporating the following safety tips into standard practice can assist in reducing heat stress exposures:

• Provide workers with water at all job sites. Ensure workers hydrate before, during, and after work to prevent heat illness.
• Modify work schedules. Monitor temperatures throughout the day and modify work schedules to limit strenuous activity during peak hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also, allow frequent rest periods with water breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas.
• Avoid clothing that traps heat. If possible, choose lightweight, light-colored, breathable, loose-fitting clothing. Carry spare shirts to replace wet or sweaty shirts.
• Wear cooling gear, such as wet neck towels or gel-filled cooling neck scarves or vests, to keep body heat down.
• Consider air conditioning in a nearby room where workers can cool down.
• Slowly acclimatize new or returning workers to the environment. Their bodies need time to adapt to working in the heat.
• Educate workers on the signs of heat-related illness.

First aid for heat-related illnesses:

• Take the affected worker to a cooler area (e.g., shade or air conditioning).
• Cool the worker immediately. Use active cooling techniques such as:
  • Immerse the worker in cold water or an ice bath. Create the ice bath by placing all the available ice into a large container with water. This is the best method to cool workers rapidly in an emergency.
  • Remove outer layers of clothing, especially heavy protective clothing.
  • Place ice or cold wet towels on the head, neck, trunk, armpits, and groin.
  • Use fans to circulate air around the worker.
• Never leave a worker with heat-related illness alone. The illness can rapidly become worse.
• Stay with the worker.
• When in doubt, call 911!

HAZARD 2: Sun Exposure

Not to be confused with exposure to heat, direct exposure to the hot summer sun and its intense ultraviolet (UV) rays poses safety risks to workers. Despite being almost entirely preventable, the American Academy of Dermatology estimates that more than 8,500 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with skin cancer every day.

Safety Tips:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to protect from UV rays.
• Wear a hat with a brim that shades the face, ears, and back of the neck.
• Wear UVA- and UVB-blocking sunglasses to protect eyes from UV rays and reduce the risk of cataracts.
• Always use a broad-spectrum sunscreen (minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or above) when working outside, even on cloudy or cool days. Apply 20 minutes before heading outdoors and reapply every 2 to 3 hours.
• Whenever possible, allow for breaks in shaded areas.
• Get regular skin checks by a doctor to help detect any unusual skin changes that could lead to skin cancer diagnoses.

HAZARD 3: Poisonous Plants

Poison ivy, oak, and sumac have poisonous sap (urushiol) in their roots, stems, leaves, and fruits. The sap can get on the skin by direct contact with the plant or with contaminated objects such as clothing, shoes, tools, and animals. Symptoms can include red rashes within a few days of contact, swelling, itching, or possible bumps, patches, streaking, or weeping blisters. Burning these plants can also produce smoke that, when inhaled, can cause lung irritation.

Safety Tips:

• Educate workers on the identification, signs, and symptoms of poison ivy, oak, and sumac plants.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants that are tucked into boots.
• Wear cloth or leather gloves.
• Apply barrier creams to exposed skin.
• Keep rubbing alcohol accessible, as it removes the sap up to 30 minutes after exposure.
• If infected, apply wet compresses, calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone cream to reduce itching or blistering.
• Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room with a severe allergic reaction such as swelling or difficulty breathing.

HAZARD 4: Ticks and Mosquitoes

Ticks and mosquitoes can carry bacteria, parasites, or viruses. One of the most common tick-borne diseases in the U.S. is Lyme disease. The most common disease carried by mosquitoes is the West Nile virus infection. Symptoms of these diseases include body/muscle aches, fever, headaches, fatigue, joint pain, rash, stiff neck, and paralysis.

Safety Tips:

• To decrease tick populations: remove leaf litter, mow, or cut back tall grass.
• Wash and dry work clothes using “hot” settings to kill any ticks present.
• Wear a hat and light-colored clothing to spot ticks easily; check skin/clothing daily.
• To remove an attached tick, grasp with tweezers as close as possible to the skin site and pull upward and out with firm and steady pressure.
• To decrease mosquito populations: eliminate standing water, remove debris from ditches, and place drain holes in containers that collect standing water.
• Keep long-sleeved shirts and pants tucked into boots or socks.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved bug spray with one of the following active ingredients: DEET (20-30% strength), picaridin, IR3535, and lemon eucalyptus or para-menthane-diol oil. Do not use DEET on infants.