Are you ready to handle the heat?
Now that the weather is heating up is it time to rethink your potential risk of heat stress?
Anyone with workers in the outdoor environment could potentially be putting workers at risk of heat stress and/or heat related illnesses, such as heat rash, headache, nausea, fainting, and in extreme cases heat stroke.
It is important to understand that temperature is not the only important factor contributing to your risk of heat stress. What you are wearing, what you are doing, your health, hydration and acclimatisation status need to be considered as well as temperature, radiation, humidity and wind speed.
Heat Stroke can occur at surprisingly low temperatures, provided the evaporative power of the air is sufficiently reduced.
In fact, a study (Schickele, E. (1947)) of 157 heat stroke deaths in US military camps discovered that the air temperatures at the time of death were, surprisingly, as low as 26 degrees, but were accompanied by relatively high humidities.
How can you assess your risk?
By undertaking a thermal risk assessment that considers all the factors that affect heat stress as well as a long term climate data, you can determine the likely risk of heat stress and implement appropriate controls. However this is quite a difficult task without the right tools.
Heat Manager is an expert software system designed to simplify and streamline the complexities of heat stress management on work sites.
Heat Manager has been developed to walk you through the five steps of developing a robust and workable heat management plan. Heat Manager has operationalised the expert knowledge contained in the AIOH ‘Guide to Managing Heat Stress’ to deliver an easy to use and accessible program for site managers. It will help you identify who is at risk, determine what controls will reduce the risk of a heat related illness and once set up, will automatically alert you to any high risk events up to 7 days in advance.
For more information on how Heat Manager can help your operation, please contact us today.