Cari Elofson, Assistant Director
Making OSHA's Heat Safety Tool available to workers on their smartphones is just one of many ways that employers can save lives and prevent heat-related illnesses.
Dublin, CA (PRWEB) July 20, 2015
The OSHA Training Center at Chabot-Las Positas Community College District has announced the release of a new version of OSHA's Heat Safety App for Apple devices to help spotlight the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's annual campaign to prevent heat illness in outdoor workers. OSHA's updated app features full-screen color alerts, improved navigation and accessibility options that instantly alert users working in high-risk zones due to heat and humidity and provide precautions to prevent heat-related illness.
"Every year, thousands of workers suffer from heat-related illnesses, resulting in death for some, but illnesses and deaths from heat exposure are totally preventable," said Cari Elofson, Assistant Director of the OSHA Training Center at Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. "Making OSHA's Heat Safety Tool available to workers on their smartphones is just one of many ways that employers can save lives and prevent heat-related illnesses."
OSHA's free heat safety mobile app, available in English and Spanish for both Android and Apple devices, enables workers and supervisors to monitor the heat index at their worksites. By combining both temperature and humidity into a single value, the heat index is a better measure than air temperature alone for estimating the risk to workers from environmental heat sources.
Industries such as agriculture, construction, landscaping and transportation employ thousands of seasonal workers every year who face a high risk of heat-related illness. Heat illness disproportionately affects new and temporary workers as well as anyone who has not built up a tolerance to heat. Labor-intensive activities in hot weather can raise body temperatures beyond the level that normally can be cooled by sweating. Heat illness initially may manifest as heat rash or heat cramps, but can quickly escalate to heat exhaustion and heat stroke if simple preventative measures are not followed, including scheduling frequent water breaks, providing shade and allowing ample time to rest.
The OSHA Training Center's Heat Illness Prevention webpage features a variety of free heat-related illness resources, including training materials, a supervisor's daily checklist and worker fact sheets on heat illness prevention.
About the OSHA Training Center
The OSHA Training Center at Chabot-Las Positas Community College District offers high quality Occupational Safety & Health Administration standards-based training for construction, maritime and general industry in Dublin, California, conveniently located in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as locations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Programs offered include OSHA safety standards, Outreach Trainer courses, Cal/OSHA standards curriculum, environmental courses and customized on-site safety training. For more information, including a complete course schedule, visit the OSHA Training Center website or call (866) 936-OSHA (6742).