Page 36 - OHS, July/August 2024

PPE: HEAD & FACE PROTECTION
Head Protection in Hot Weather: Staying Safe While Keeping Cool PPE considerations to help industrial workers mitigate the impacts of heat stress.
BY RYAN BARNES
Temperatures are rising across the United States and the world on average, year after year. Summers especially are becoming hotter and hotter, accentuated by record-breaking heat waves. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), last year was the warmest year since global records began in 1850 at 1.18°C (2.12°F) above the 20th- century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). This value is 0.15°C (0.27°F) more than the previous record set in 2016. Meanwhile, the 10 warmest years in the 174-year record have all occurred during the last decade (2014– 2023). In the United States alone, last summer more than 6,500 daily heat records1 fell in cities and towns all across the country.
Such temperature increases are affecting the planet in strange ways; animals are changing migration patterns, plants are bloom- ing earlier, and average annual snow coverage is shrinking. The en- vironmental impact is being heavily documented, but what about the effect on the daily lives of workers? More specifically, what im- pact do rising temperatures have on people who work outdoors during the warm months, especially industrial tradespeople and construction workers?
There’s no question that construction workers and related in- dustries across the United States are feeling the impacts of climate change and heat stress. Heat is the number one cause of weather- related death in the United States, and those working outdoors are disproportionately affected by extreme heat. As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2 (BLS), from 2011 to 2021, there were 528 worker-related deaths in the United States due to environmental heat exposure. In the face of rising temperatures, staying cool and safe on construction sites is more crucial than ever–lives depend on it.
Thankfully, industrial tradespeople, construction workers, and their respective employers are recognizing this trend, and they are planning accordingly, including introducing new types of PPE de- signed to not just keep workers safe from injury, but safe from the heat. Even during the high summer months, workers must equip them-
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selves with full PPE to ensure they are safe and compliant with their worksite’s respective standards. However, they must also find ways and methods to stay cool on the job. That is why the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) launched its Heat Illness Preven- tion3 campaign in April 2022 to educate employers and workers on heat hazards and provide resources to keep workers safe. OSHA’s mes- sage is simple yet effective, emphasizing water, rest, and shade.
OSHA encourages workers to drink water every 15 minutes and take frequent rest breaks in the shade to cool off. For employ- ers, OSHA emphasizes the need to maintain an effective emer- gency plan for when a worker shows signs of heat-related illness. This includes training workers on the hazards of heat exposure and how to prevent illness and allowing workers to gradually build up a tolerance for working in heat.
Furthermore, organizations are proactively looking at adopting PPE that can help increase worker comfort in extreme heat while enabling workers to acclimate, going above and beyond the basic heat stress mitigation requirements of shade, water, and rest.
How PPE Can Help Keep Workers Cool
On a hot day, the last thing a worker wants to do is wear a safety helmet, or frankly any PPE that will increase discomfort in the heat. But the reality is that construction sites are dangerous places, and head protection is a requirement, even on the hottest of days. In fact, from 2015 to 2019, slips, trips, and falls were the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry and accounted for 37.9 percent of all fatalities, according to the BLS.4 Heat can exacer- bate slips, trips, and falls, as workers can become disoriented in the heat due to heat stress, making helmet compliance even more im- portant. According to Williams College researchers,5 accident rates significantly increase from heat shocks. A different study6 found that heat stress can negatively impact cognitive performance.
Furthermore, in hot weather, a traditional hard hat can create its
34 Occupational Health & Safety | JULY/AUGUST 2024
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