While the nation transitions into months of cooler weather we only need to look back to the previous summer to acknowledge that our world continues to get much warmer with July 2021 being the hottest month ever recorded. On-the-job heat illness is now as threatening as the COVID-19 pandemic to the health and safety of food service workers.
The statistics are alarming:
• From 2001 to 2018, hotter daily temperatures in California resulted in 20,000 workplace injuries, both indoors and out.
• 43 workers died from heat illness in 2019 and 2,410 others suffered serious injuries.
• In 2021, Oregon endured historically high triple-digit temperatures for more than a week, forcing the governor to issue a 180-day emergency rule protecting workers from indoor and outdoor heat.
“Throughout the nation, millions of workers face serious hazards from high temperatures both outdoors and indoors. Amid changing climate, the growing frequency and intensity of extreme heat events is increasing the dangers workers face, especially for workers of color who disproportionately work in essential jobs in tough conditions.” — U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
A warming environment can cause lost work hours and productivity, resulting in lost wages for workers. The Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center estimates heat illness currently costs business at least $100 billion annually – a figure likely to double by 2030 and quintuple by 2050.
Up until now, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has pursued charges against employers for heat-related illness primarily in outdoor environments. Then two years ago, the public interest group Public Citizen and 111 other safety and labor groups urged legislators to create a federal standard for protecting workers from heat stress for both outdoor and indoor workers.
A New Mandate to Protect Workers
In response to these growing demands, in September the White House announced expanded efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor to address heat-related illness. As part of the president’s interagency effort and commitment to workplace safety, climate resilience, and environmental justice, OSHA is initiating enhanced measures to protect workers in hot environments and reduce the dangers of ambient heat.
To emphasize its concern and take necessary action, OSHA is implementing an enforcement initiative on heat-related hazards, developing a National Emphasis Program on heat inspections, and launching a rulemaking process to develop a workplace heat standard. In addition, the agency is forming a National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Work Group to share best practices to protect workers.
“While agricultural and construction workers often come to mind first when thinking about workers most exposed to heat hazards, without proper safety actions, sun protection and climate-control, intense heat can be harmful to a wide variety of workers indoors or outdoors and during any season. " -- Acting Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Jim Frederick.
OSHA will begin to draft rules for the food service industry, especially targeting agriculture, restaurants, and meatpacking. The agency is currently creating new heat standards that target indoor workers in warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing plants lacking climate-controlled environments. Starting in October, OSHA will also start drafting additional safety standards for restaurant kitchens...
Continuing reading the full blog, here.
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Temperature Monitoring (Wireless)
