Summer is here and things are heating up in the risk department. The planet is breaking temperature records, with 2023 marking the hottest year ever observed, and NOAA reporting a one-in-three chance 2024 will be even hotter. The threat of heat-related illness makes high temperatures a significant seasonal workplace hazard on their own, and they’re being exacerbated by a wave of anti-safety legislation—some states are signing bills and passing laws to block mandatory heat protection for workers. Under these conditions, when it comes to health and safety, there’s never been a better time to be proactive about keeping cool.
The good news: the signs and symptoms of heat illness are well understood, and so are the best practices for avoiding them. Heat exhaustion, heat stroke, sunburn, heat cramps, dehydration and heat rash have serious effects. Some of these maladies can hospitalize or even kill a person. Water, shade and regular breaks are key elements of a heat illness prevention strategy, and scheduling outdoor work on either side of peak heat hours helps too.
When promoting heat safety to employees—through toolbox talks, digital display presentations and other communications—it’s easy to focus on the direct health consequences of muggy conditions. But did you know that high temperatures also amplify human factors? It’s true. There’s science to back it up.
Tired as a sun dog
It’s not just your imagination: warm and sunny weather actually does make you tired, and the culprit is dripping from your brow. While it’s common knowledge that human bodies perspire in order to regulate body temperature, what you may not know is just how much energy you spend when you sweat. According to Dr. Matthew Badgett, a primary care physician for Cleveland Clinic, sweating increases both your heart rate and your metabolic rate. Humid conditions make it worse, as sweat takes longer to evaporate in moist air, further taxing your body’s energy as it tries to cool down.
Add that to the summer activities keeping folks out late at night, drinking and eating, and what you have is a summertime recipe for fatigue. And that spells danger.
Tired workers are more prone to distraction and not having their eyes on task, making them more vulnerable to hazards. Thankfully the antidote to fatigue is built into a well-considered heat safety protocol: taking water breaks in the shade. Encourage workers to take breaks when they notice the signs of exhaustion, even if they aren’t feeling symptoms of more severe illness. That will keep them energized, healthy and focused even under an oppressive summer sun.
None like it hot
The sun can irritate more than just your skin. Multiple studies on tempers under the influence of heat show that people are more prone to frustration when things start sweltering. While this is partially due to the same processes that make you tired when you sweat, there are other elements at work.
Speaking to CNN, Cognitive Behavior Consultants’ Dr. Joseph Taliercio suggested that heat regulation may borrow energy from parts of the brain that keep us civil: “Our brain has to reroute power when it is hot, and as a result, we’ll get more impulsive and act more without thinking.”
While many of the studies on hot-headed behavior focus on violent crime and antisocial actions, anger and annoyance can make a worksite dangerous even if they don’t devolve into interpersonal conflict. Frustration has a tendency to draw our minds and eyes away from work tasks as we dwell on the source of our annoyance. That makes us more prone to injury-causing errors, and can even lead us to ignoring signs of worsening heat illness.
Thankfully, the methods of tamping down temperature’s effect on our temperament are the same ones we use to treat tiredness and avoid heat illness. By helping workers regulate their body temperature with breaks, water and shade, you can ensure they have the energy to stay healthy and focused in unpleasant conditions caused by hot sunshine. The key is making sure they understand the pattern of one thing leading to another and can recognize the signs early enough to take the appropriate steps to reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes. They also need company leaders who encourage these preventative measures.
Incorporating human factors training and management principles into your heat-related health and safety strategy is a great way to head off the hidden risks that come with working in the blazing conditions of modern summers, regardless of regulations. Don’t wait for dangerous symptoms to emerge before acting—by taking care of the more subtle effects of heat, you are also staying ahead of the curve in avoiding the serious hazards that come with warm weather.