Working in extremely hot weather

Source excerpt

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…

Source excerpt

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…

Source excerpt

- (b) provide effective protection for the health and safety of workers; and - (c) provide reasonable thermal comfort for workers. - (2) At an indoor place of employment where the thermal environment is likely to be a health or safety concern to the workers, an employer, contractor or owner shall provide and maintain an appropriate and suitably located instrument for measuring the thermal conditions. - (3) If it is not reasonably practicable to control thermal conditions or if work is being performed outdoors, an employer, contractor or owner shall provide and maintain measures for: - (a) the effective protection of the health and safety of workers; and - (b) the reasonable thermal comfort of workers. - (4) Measures for the purposes set out in subsection (3) may include, but are not limited to, the following: - (a) frequent monitoring of thermal conditions; - (b) the provision of special or temporary equipment, including screens, shelters and temporary heating or cooling equipment; - (c) the provision of suitable clothing or personal protective equipment; - (d) the provision of hot or cold drinks; - (e) the use of acclimatization or other physiological procedures; - (f) the use of limited work schedules with rest and recovery periods, changes in workloads, changes in hours or other arrangements for work; - (g) frequent observation of workers by a person who is trained to recognize the symptoms of physiological stress resulting from extreme temperatures; - (h) the provision of emergency supplies for use when travelling under extremely cold or inclement weather conditions. - (5) If a worker is required to work in thermal conditions that are different from those associated with the worker's normal duties, an employer or contractor shall provide, and require the worker to use, any suitable clothing or other personal protective equipment that is necessary to protect the health and safety of the worker. 31 Dec 2020 c S-15.1 Reg 10 s6-7. ## Toi…

Source excerpt

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…

Source excerpt

## Extremes of temperature 23 (1) Where an employee is exposed to work condi -tions that may present a hazard because of excessive heat, an employer shall ensure that a competent person instructs the employee in the significance of symptoms of heat stress such as heat exhaustion, dehydration, heat cramps, prickly heat and heat stroke and in the precau -tions to be taken to avoid injury from heat stress. 23 (2) Where an employee is exposed to work condi -tions that may present a hazard because of excessive cold, an employer shall ensure that a competent person instructs the employee in the significance of symptoms of cold stress such as severe shivering, pain in the ex -tremities of the body and reduced mental awareness and in the precautions to be taken to avoid injury from cold stress. ## Threshold Limit Values for Formaldehyde and Lead Sulfide Repealed: 2022-27 2001-33; 2022-27 ## Threshold limit value for formaldehyde Repealed: 2022-27 2022-27 23.1 Repealed: 2022-27 2001-33; 2022-27 ## Air Contaminants and Industrial Ventilation 2022-27; 2022-79 ## Air contaminants - level of concentration 2022-79 24 (1) An employer shall ensure that an air contami -nant is kept at a level of concentration that does not con -stitute a hazard to the health or safety of an employee ex -posed to it and, if an occupational exposure limit exists in respect of an air contaminant, that the exposure of the employee to the air contaminant at no time exceeds the occupational exposure limit. Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biolo -gical Exposure Indices ». 2001-33; 2022-27 ## Températures extrêmes 23 (1) Lorsque les conditions de travail d'un salarié peuvent l'exposer au danger de chaleur excessive, l'em -ployeur doit s'assurer que le salarié reçoit les instruc -tions d'une personne compétente sur la signification des symptômes de stress dû à la chaleur tels que l'épuise -ment dû à …