Heat stress

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Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division Oregon Administrative Rules AO 1-2025 Division 2 - (c) The shade must be located as close as practical to the areas where employees are working. - (d) Shade present during meal periods must be large enough to accommodate the number of employees on the meal period that remain onsite. - (e) If trees or other vegetation are used to provide shade, such as in orchards or forests, the thickness and shape of the shaded area must provide sufficient shadow to protect employees. - Exception: When the employer can demonstrate that providing access to shade is not safe or it interferes with the ability of employers and employees to complete the necessary work in a particular situation, for example, during high winds or when an employee is walking through range land, employers must identify and implement alternative cooling measures that provide equivalent protection such as providing cooling vests (either with fans or ice packs), water-dampened cotton clothing, or similar effective measures. The Heat Illness Prevention Plan under section (8) must include the use, care, and maintenance of the alternative cooling methods, in writing. - (4) Drinking water. Ensure that a sufficient supply of drinking water is immediately and readily available to exposed employees at all times, at no cost, when the heat index in the work area equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. - (a) Supplied drinking water must be either cool or cold, see subsection (2)(b). - (b) Supply each employee with enough drinking water to enable them to consume up to 32 ounces per hour. Employers are not required to supply the entire quantity of drinking water needed for all employees on a full shift at the beginning of the shift. Employers may begin the shift with smaller quantities of drinking water when effective procedures are established to replenish the water consumed during the shift. - (c) Employees must have ample opportunity to drink water required under this…

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Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division Oregon Administrative Rules AO 1-2025 Division 2 - (b) The employer's procedures for complying with the requirements of this standard, including, but not limited to, the employer's responsibility to provide water, heat index information (including the risks to experiencing a heat-related illness), shade, preventative rest breaks, and access to first aid, as well as how employees can exercise their rights under this standard without fear of retaliation; - (c) The importance of frequent consumption of small quantities of water, up to 32 ounces per hour, when the work environment is hot and employees are likely to be sweating more than usual in the performance of their duties; - (d) The concept, importance, and methods of the acclimatization plan pursuant to the employer's procedures under section (8); - (e) The different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms of heat illness, and the appropriate first aid and emergency response to the different types of heat illness, including how heat illness may progress quickly from mild signs and symptoms to a serious and life-threatening condition; - (f) The importance for employees to immediately report to the employer, directly or through the employee's supervisor, signs and symptoms of heat illness in themselves or in others; and - (g) The effects of nonoccupational factors (drugs, alcohol, obesity, etc.) on tolerance to occupational heat stress. - (10) Training documentation. Verify compliance with section (9) by preparing and maintaining written or electronic training records that can be provided to Oregon OSHA upon request. Such records must contain the name or identification of each employee trained, the date(s) of the training, and the name of the person who conducted the training. The most recent annual training record for each affected employee must be maintained. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 654.025(2), 654.035 & 656.726(4) Statutes Implemented: O…

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J Division 2 AO 1-2025 Oregon Administrative Rules Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division - (B) NIOSH work/rest schedule: Implement a written heat illness prevention rest break schedule using the information found in section 3 of Appendix A: Mandatory Information for Heat Illness Prevention based on NIOSH recommendations. - Note: The NIOSH work/rest schedule uses unadjusted ambient temperatures (in degrees Fahrenheit), and employers must follow the instructions underneath Table 3.1 in Appendix A: Mandatory Information for Heat Illness Prevention. Employers must be aware that different work/rest schedules exist for those wearing chemical-resistant suits; see Table 3.2 in Appendix A: Mandatory Information for Heat Illness Prevention. - (C) Simplified heat illness prevention rest break schedule: Implement a written simplified heat illness prevention rest break schedule using Table 2. Table 2 - Minimum simplified rest break schedule: Note: The Table 2 heat illness prevention rest break schedule is only required during the specified heat index. - (f) The heat illness prevention rest breaks under subsection (5)(e) are only required during the specified heat index, and may be provided concurrently with any other meal or rest period required by policy, rule or law -if the timing of the preventative rest break coincides with the otherwise required meal or rest period. However, the heat illness prevention rest break must be calculated using only the time spent in the shade and w hen employees are not performing work other than 'rest' or 'light' work. The requirement for heat illness prevention rest breaks does not prohibit 'rest' or 'light' work -related activities conducted in a temperature-controlled environment, such as paperwork, at the discretion of the employee. - (g) Except when the heat illness prevention rest breaks coincide with the existing unpaid meal break, the heat illness prevention rest break is a work assignment. Heat illness prevention rest b…

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J Division 2 AO 1-2025 Oregon Administrative Rules Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division - (8) Heat illness prevention plan. Develop, implement, and maintain an effective heat illness prevention plan in writing. The plan must be made available at the worksite to employees and to Oregon OSHA upon request. The plan must contain at least the following information: - (a) How employees will be trained on the hazards of heat exposure and the necessary steps to prevent heat-related illnesses; - (b) How to recognize the symptoms of dehydration, and how to respond to suspected heat-related illnesses in others; - (c) How sufficient amounts of cool, potable water in work areas will be provided; - (d) How employees will be provided frequent opportunities and encouragement to stay hydrated by drinking water; - (e) How employees will be provided sufficient space to rest in a shaded area or cool climate-controlled area, and where heat-affected employees may cool off and recover when signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses are recognized; - (f) How the employer will implement the heat illness prevention rest break schedule when necessary to keep employees safe; and - (g) How the employer will implement heat acclimatization procedures for new employees or employees returning to work from extended absences of seven or more days. - (9) Supervisor and employee training. Provide heat illness prevention training to all employees, including new employees, supervisory and non-supervisory employees in a language and vocabulary readily understood, and in a manner that facilitates employee feedback. Such training must be provided annually before employees begin work that should reasonably be anticipated to expose them to the risk of heat illness, and include at least the following: - (a) The environmental and personal risk factors (for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, kidney disease, obesity, etc.) for heat illness that may limit an individual's toler…

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J Division 2 AO 1-2025 Oregon Administrative Rules Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division In July, 2015 Oregon OSHA reposed rules for Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. Three public hearings were held during August and September 2015. Most of the oral and written comments received concerned: the duties of a Safety Watch, the exception to the two-worker rule, and helicopters. Changes to the final rule include: Safety Watch: Safety Watch text was added to the final rule [redacted phone](13). Operating switches: [redacted phone](2)(b)(B) was changed to clarify that [redacted phone](2)(b)(E) must be followed for routine switching of load break elbows. Helicopters: Paragraphs were removed which were already addressed by, or were in conflict with, other regulatory agencies; or were unnecessarily restrictive based upon accepted industry practices. On October 5, 2015 Federal OSHA published in the Federal Register, minor language clarifications in rules related to Line Clearance Tree Trimming as well as correcting errors in Table R-6 (Alternative Minimum Approach Distances.) The note for enclosed spaces was removed from Appendix A-3 and placed in Appendix A-5. These corrections have been incorporated in Oregon OSHA's final rules. This is Oregon OSHA Administrative Order 3-2015, adopted October 9, 2015, and effective January 1, 2016. Note: Oregon-initiated rules appear in italics in this codebook in proximity to related federal rules. Note: Oregon OSHA adopted these permanent rules to prevent heat illness when employees are exposed to high ambient temperatures. Without specific rule requirements, Oregon OSHA recognized that both employers and workers may not clearly understand expectations of what must be done to prevent work-related heat illness. The deadly heat wave of June 2021, which contributed to multiple workplace hospitalizations and fatalities, underscored the need for such rules to protect workers against the serious risk …