The heat wave that has gripped North America, Europe and Asia is breaking records, with Phoenix experiencing 31 consecutive days of temperatures over 113 degrees.
In Utah’s Salt Lake City, there have been 12 days of temperatures hitting or eclipsing the triple-digit mark, and twice the heat scorched the city at 106 degrees, on July 16 and July 22. A miserable stretch happened between July 21 and July 30, when there were eight days of temperatures over 100 degrees, according to Mike Seaman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.
While much of the state saw some respite recently with some cooling and rain, the heat is returning.
While the majority of Utah employees get the benefit of an air conditioned workspace, the same is not true for those in construction, like homebuilding or road work under the purview of the Utah Department of Transportation, as well as those in agriculture, laboring to bring in crops and take care of livestock.
The heat presents particular dangers to those who work outside and is among nature’s most efficient killer — claiming more than 600 people a year in the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some studies show that extreme heat kills more people most years than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined — but because of its creeping and scattered nature, it escapes many of the dramatic headlines.
Overall, a total of more than 11,000 Americans have died from heat-related causes since 1979, according to death certificates in numbers released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in data compiled up through 2018.
In late July, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration had issued a heat hazard alert to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces.
The department also announced that OSHA will intensify its enforcement where workers are exposed to heat hazards, with increased inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture.
“Historically high temperatures impact everyone and put our nation’s workers at high risk,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su in a news release. “A workplace heat standard has long been a top priority for the Department of Labor, but rulemaking takes time and working people need help now ... At the president’s request, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a heat hazard alert to make sure employers follow current standards and that workers across the country know their rights. This action, combined with OSHA’s increased heat-safety enforcement efforts, shows that we are determined to protect the safety and health of millions of people whose jobs become more hazardous in harsh weather.”
Shawn Wright said “slow and steady” is key to dealing with heat.
As the supervisor of UDOT’s Cottonwood Maintenance Station, he works to keep himself as cool as possible, as well as the employees under his care.
“I make sure we have got plenty of water. There are 5 gallon water jugs on every truck to make sure everyone stays hydrated. The work is important to get it done, but it is more of a slow and steady pace to not overheat,” he said.
Wright has practice; he’s been with UDOT 28 years.
“It is physical labor and you pace yourself and know your limits of what you are able to do,” he said.
He said workers also use cooling towels and jump in vehicles with some air conditioning, but he personally leaves the window down while the cool air blows on him. The sudden transition from extreme heat to a well-cooled vehicle is tough on the body, he said.
“You don’t want to shock your system when you get back out in the heat,” he said, adding, “Safety is our No. 1 priority. The job will always be there tomorrow.”
Wayne Jarrett, a Nephi farmer and rancher, is well acquainted with heat, working 12-hour days regardless of the weather.
“I guess what I do is stay hydrated, or turn on the sprinklers,” he said. “I think people who work out in it all the time get acclimated to it over time.”
Jarrett said he has air conditioning in some of his vehicles, but it is inadequate.
“On some days when its over 100 degrees of heat I will go home for lunch, get a big, cool glass of water and maybe nap for a half hour.”
He said his daughter tries to push sodium-filled hydration drinks on him, but they’re not to his taste.
“I think it more of a hydration thing than dealing with the heat.”
The ‘desert’ of regulations
While Su said a heat standard has long been a “top priority” for the nation, none exists — so exactly what standard is to be followed?
While OSHA does require employers to provide access to potable water on a work site, that’s about it.
“If we get a call about possible heat related issues, we will go and investigate and take a look and see what’s going on. But, at present, what we can do is talk to the employers and give them basically best practices,” said Eric Olsen, spokesman for the Utah Labor Commission.
“We are a regulatory agency. You know, a cop can’t give a ticket for something that’s not a crime — even if we think there should be, right?,” he said. “There’s no current standard on the books that we can cite. We can’t give a citation for violation of standard because there is no standard to be violated.”
Similarly, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services does not track heat-related deaths in the state because its public data query system isn’t set up for it, said Jenny Johnson, a spokeswoman of the department.
Tracking those deaths is difficult, she added, but while heat exposure may have been a trigger, the underlying cause of death could be stroke. Even with children, she said, it is difficult. While it appears obvious that heat causes the death of child left unattended in a car in the summer, the data isn’t set up to track other incidents, without digging down deep into each particular death certificate — for all ages.
With the absence of a standard and no easy way to track the data, Utah and other states must rely on an honor system of sorts.
OSHA provides a list of “responsibilities” for employers that include:
- Providing workers with rest, shade and water.
- Allowing new or returning workers to gradually increase workloads and take more frequent breaks during the first week of work as they build tolerance for working in the heat.
- Monitoring workers for signs of illness.
OSHA said studies show that almost half of heat-related deaths occur on a worker’s very first day on the job and more than 70% of heat-related deaths occur during a worker’s first week. The agency offers information on heat related risks, the importance of phasing in hours and the need for frequent water, at least every 20 minutes, as well as signs that a worker is under duress.
Olsen said within the labor commission, the state has its own approved Occupational and Safety Division which does do outreach with employers on best practices related to heat-related precautions.
“There’s thousands of employers in this state and X amount of people to help regulate that. Many, many understand that it’s in their best interest to keep their employees safe, just like we’re encouraging them to and we try to help them,” he said.
“We can go out there and check out the situation, check out the environment, make sure there’s water which they have to have out there and see what other things there are and say there are best practices you probably need to adopt here. And you know, that’s what we can do for now. That’s what we can do to the best of our ability.”
Olsen did say the state has the ability to cite an employer under failure to follow what is called a “general duty clause,” but it’s a high standard which requires “if a recognized serious hazard exists in their workplace and the employer does not take reasonable steps to prevent or abate the hazard. The general duty clause is used only where there is no standard that applies to the particular hazard.”
Keeping workers safe
John Gleason, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation, said the agency works closely with contractors and its own employees to mitigate the heat.
Most projects have water stations, there are regular safety briefings and time-of-day scheduling is also a key component to keeping workers safe.
“A lot of the work that we do happens overnight. And that’s primarily because it’s better for traffic, but it has the benefit of not keeping the workers out in triple-degree temperatures either. You can also adjust construction activities, so if you have an activity like paving that would put workers out in the heat for extended periods of time, they can shift that oftentimes to have those type of activities take place in cooler times, such as the morning before it gets too hot.”
Gleason pointed to one particular project in northern Utah with a starting time of 7 a.m., with the shift ending by 3 p.m
Communicating with on-site project managers and the workers themselves is key, he added.
“We encourage our workers to be vocal about what they are experiencing and if they need a rest, to let their supervisor know,” he said. “These are tough men and women who do a really difficult job, and they’re tough people.”
It’s critical that attitude doesn’t end up with a risk to health, he said.
“Our workers should never ever feel like they are letting people down by saying they need to rest or that they are being affected by the heat,” he said. “It is something that can happen to anyone. Again, these are tough people, tough-minded people, and we want to erase that stigma that somehow you’re not being tough if you need to rest, if the heat is affecting you.”
