Occupational Heat Management
Sharing Global Best Practices Using Simple Low-Cost Solutions

Heat stress is an increasing occupational health risk, especially in outdoor and physically demanding environments. This 90-minute presentation and discussion session is intended to provide a framework and scope for understanding and acting at local and workplace levels to protect worker health and productivity in hot work environments. This basic orientation is mainly focused on outdoor work in both formal and informal work settings, but also hot indoor environments.

By understanding the relationship between environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, radiant heat) and physical exertion, employers and workers can effectively reduce the risks associated with heat exposure.

This first in a proposed series of four sessions on workplace heat exposure will provide broader elements needed to establish an effective workplace heat illness and injury protection program. These include climate-related heat events, OSH standards, ethical principles, and an integrated preventive health systems approach. The session will allow generous time for participant Q&A and discussion and will use participant input to frame subsequent sessions in the series. Participants are invited to present a difficult case or scenario from their own experience.

Tom Gassert, board certified in occupational, environmental and internal medicine with experience as an industrial hygienist, as well as work with the WHO on heat exposure in a low-income country of Southeast Asia, will present a general overview of the topic and pose questions.

Ronda McCarthy, board certified in occupational and environmental medicine will then offer an introduction to many practical aspects of heat exposure management relevant to safety programs and employer roles.

This heat series program is intended for employees and trades, employers, occupational hygienists and health and safety managers, workplace inspectors, as well as emergency medical services and primary care medical providers, occupational nurses and physicians. We anticipate that this will be the first of four sessions over the coming 3-4 months.

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