With high temperatures here today and tomorrow, make sure your Heat Illness Prevention Program (HIPP) is in compliance with the California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) prevention program. Keep your employees safe by centering your company's HIPP on these basic principals: adequate water, rest, shade, training and emergency procedures for outdoor work sites.
UCON advises our members to take the
following basic steps to ensure your Heat Illness Prevention Program is compliant:
- Train all employees and supervisors about heat illness prevention.
- Provide plenty of cool, fresh water (at least 1 quart/employee per each hour of the work shift) and encourage employees to drink water frequently.
- Provide a shaded area for workers to take a "cool-down recovery break."
- Ensure that workers are given enough time to get used to the heat, known as acclimatization. This is especially important for new workers and all workers during a sudden heat wave.
- Prepare an emergency heat illness prevention plan for the work site, with training for supervisors and workers on the steps to take if a worker shows signs or symptoms of heat illness.
Under the heat illness prevention standard, General Industry Safety Orders §3395, outdoor employers are subject to "high heat" procedures when the temperature reaches 95°F. In these situations, supervisors must take the following extra precautions:
- Observe workers for signs and symptoms of heat illness
- Remind workers to drink water frequently
- Provide close supervision of workers in the first 14 days of their employment to ensure acclimation
- Ensure that effective communications by voice, observation, or electronic means is maintained so an employee can contact a supervisor, and if necessary emergency responders
For more information, visit: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/HeatIllnessInfo.html.
Contact United Contractors at (925) 855-7900. |
