Working in the heat – simple ways to keep your team safe

12 Oct Working in the heat – simple ways to keep your team safe

In New Zealand, UV levels are high enough to need sun protection from September to April, and hot spells can arrive well before summer officially starts. If your people work outdoors, in a hot vehicle, or near heat-producing equipment, now is the time to check your controls.

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Check WorkSafe’s guidance and your own obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

What employers must do

If you run a business, you are a PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking). You must make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that your workers are not put at risk from heat or the sun while they work.

Two points are worth knowing:

• There is no legal maximum temperature for work in New Zealand. Risk depends on more than air temperature. Humidity, radiant heat from sun or machinery, how hard people are working and what they are wearing all matter.
• Heat and UV are two separate hazards. Heat can cause heat stress, heat exhaustion and heatstroke. UV causes sunburn and, over time, skin cancer. You cannot see or feel UV, and it can be high on cool or cloudy days.

In practice, this means you need to:

1. Identify the hazard. Which jobs, sites, vehicles or areas expose people to sun or heat?
2. Assess the risk. WorkSafe says to do a heat risk assessment if workers are uncomfortably hot or sweating, are exposed to radiant heat such as direct sunlight or hot plant, or work in confined spaces in hot or humid weather.
3. Put controls in place. Use the simplest control that works.
4. Talk to your workers. Ask what is uncomfortable or hard in the heat. They often spot problems first.
5. Train and review. Make sure people can recognise the signs of heat illness, and check that your controls still work when conditions change.

Workers have duties too. They need to follow your controls, look after themselves and others, and tell you about any health condition or medication that could make working in the heat riskier.

Simple controls that work

Start with the controls at the top of this list. They protect everyone without relying on people remembering to do something.

Change the work

• Schedule hard physical jobs for early morning or later in the afternoon.
• Move tasks indoors or into shade where you can.
• Rotate people between hot and cooler tasks.
• Plan the job so people spend less time exposed, for example by having materials and tools ready before starting.

Change the environment

• Provide shade at the work area, such as a pop-up shelter, a vehicle in the shade or a shaded smoko spot.
• Use fans or ventilation indoors, and keep vehicle air conditioning working.
• Insulate or screen hot machinery and surfaces.

Make water and rest easy

• Provide cool drinking water at every site and in every vehicle. Do not rely on people bringing their own.
• Build in short, regular breaks on hot days, and extra breaks when the job is physically heavy.
• Allow new or returning workers to build up to a full workload over several days, so their bodies can adjust.

Protect skin and eyes

SunSmart recommends sun protection whenever the UV Index is 3 or higher, which in New Zealand is typically September to April, and especially between 10am and 4pm. Outdoor workers should consider protection all year, because UV damage builds up over time.

• Long-sleeved, collared shirts and long pants in a lightweight fabric.
• A wide-brimmed hat or a hard hat with a brim and neck flap. Caps leave the neck and ears exposed, and SunSmart says they do not give adequate protection.
• Wrap-around sunglasses that meet the right standard (check the label).
• Broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF 30+ sunscreen, applied 15 minutes before going outside and reapplied at least every two hours.
• Extra care near reflective surfaces such as water, concrete and metal roofing.

Tell workers where the sunscreen is kept, and keep it stocked. A bottle in every vehicle and on every site removes the excuse.

Check the UV Index

Make it a habit to check the daily UV forecast before you plan the day. SunSmart have an app that makes this easy.

Know the warning signs

Everyone on your team should know what heat illness looks like.

• Early signs: heavy sweating, headache, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, unusual tiredness or irritability.
• Heatstroke: confusion, collapse, hot red skin that may be dry, and a very high body temperature. This is an emergency. Call 111.

For early signs, move the person to shade or a cool area, give them water to sip, loosen or remove excess clothing and monitor them closely. If they do not improve quickly, get medical help.

Heat also affects concentration and decision-making. If someone seems unusually slow, clumsy or short-tempered on a hot day, treat it as a safety signal, particularly if they are driving, using machinery or working at height.

What to do first

If you only have time for three things before summer:

1. Add heat and UV to your hazard register, with the controls you already use and any gaps.
2. Stock the basics: shade, water, sunscreen and brimmed hats at every site and in every vehicle.
3. Brief your team on warning signs and what to do if someone is unwell, and write down that you did it.

If you want a simple place to record hazards, controls and reviews, you can book a free online demo of Hasmate and see how it works for your business.

For more on spotting hazards across your workplace, see our guide to how to identify hazards in the workplace.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss.