Heat Illness Prevention
This program establishes the requirements for the prevention, treatment and response for Outdoor Heat Illness. This program applies to departments with employees who work outside during a substantial portion of their work shift. Employees in Landscape Services, Field Workers in Horticulture Plant & Soil Sciences, Coaches in Athletics, Coaches in Kinesiology and Parking Officers in Parking and Transportation Services are examples of employees who work outside a substantial portion of their work shift.
Daily Checklist
Supervisors or their designees should complete the Supervisor's Daily Checklist before conducting or overseeing operations in environments that may subject personnel to heat stress related conditions. The checklist can be found in the appendix of the program and will help ensure that all safety factors such as shade, drinking water etc. are satisfied before work is started.
EH&S recommends utilizing the Heat Wave Worksheet which includes detailed instructions. The checklist can be saved as documentation for statutory heat wave calculations and ultimate determination.
Submit Supervisor's Daily Checklist
Weather Forecast
Heat Wave Determination
To determine the presence of a statutory Heat Wave as defined by Cal/OSHA, the following instructions should be followed. A statutory Heat Wave is defined as any day in which the predicted high temperature for the day will be at least 80 oF and at least 10 oF higher than the average high temperature in the preceding five days.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Use the button on the sidebar of this page to download the current daily historical data from the on-campus weather station or view current daily historical data. EH&S recommends downloading the Supervisor's Daily Checklist above which includes an Heat Wave Determination Checklist and detailed instructions.
- Locate column L which contains the maximum recorded air temperatures and average the last 5 entries in that column.
- Compare the calculated average to the forecasted daily temperature listed in the weather panel above.
- If the forecasted temperature is 80oF or higher and 10oF or higher than the average you calculated, Heat Wave conditions exist and necessary precautions and procedures are to be put in effect.
What is Required?
When a statutory Heat Wave has been triggered, all exposed employees shall be closely observed by a supervisor, lead or designee. The following options may be used to meet the requirement of "Close Observation":
- Use of the Buddy System. Employees work in groups of 2 or more and stay within sight and hearing of each other or
- Visual Observation of employees by a Supervisor, Lead or designee. No more than 20 employees per Supervisor, Lead or designee or
- Two way communication by electronic device (e.g. radio, cell phone, etc.). Employees must be contacted every 15 minutes to verify that they are OK (e.g. can count backwards from 10 to 1).