When the Jobsite Heats Up

5 ways superintendents can prevent heat-related illness, keep crews safe

By Scott Risch

Across the United States, project sites and their superintendents deal with a consistent set of heat-related challenges and health risks from heat exposure, regardless of region or project size. But heat illness is predictable, and doesn’t happen suddenly, which is why there are preventable solutions that can lead to faster recognition and response.

Five ways superintendents can prevent heat-related illness and keep crews safe this summer include team training, proactive planning, site setup, leading by example and technology.

Training: the deadly gap
Most employers check a box with annual heat illness training at the start of summer or when an employee joins the team. They remind workers how to protect themselves from heat illness by staying hydrated, identifying the signs of heat illness and how to respond to ensure co-workers are well taken care of in the event of exposure. Everyone nods along because they’ve heard it before.

But here’s the problem: Passive training creates false confidence, causing workers to think they understand heat stress because they can tick off the symptoms. But on the jobsite on a normal workday, it’s too easy to miss the early warning signs like confusion or irritability. A co-worker might seem fine one minute, and collapse the next.

The biggest mistake we can make as leaders is assuming knowledge equals action and that includes our veteran crews who think they don’t need training. In reality, they are the ones most likely to push through early warning signs because “they’ve been here before.”

It’s a potentially deadly gap that can be addressed by rehearsing emergency response procedures, conducting role playing exercises during training and asking scenario-based questions such as, “a colleague keeps dropping tools, what do you do first?”

These are all good things to establish baseline knowledge; just be certain to ask engaging questions during training to ensure the information is received and understood.

Planning is a team sport
The majority of organizations in this industry have adopted a work plan process that includes a hazard analysis and instructions on how to prevent those hazards from being an incident. To make this process even better, create the work plan as a team. Gather everyone’s input, because when it comes to safety, no one should be sitting on the sidelines — safety is a team sport. Ask open-ended questions after discussing the task to be completed, and call on team members to respond to get things flowing if needed. What concerns do you have? What hazards may be encountered? How can we protect ourselves? This will create ownership and ensure everyone fully understands all aspects of the work plan.

Don’t let heat illness conversations and your expectations for everyone looking out for each other become a checkbox or get drowned out with production and quality conversations. We need to talk about it and inquire about it frequently throughout the day.

Setup is key
To ensure the safest working conditions possible, most companies alter their team’s schedules to work in the cooler parts of the day or add additional breaks to the shift during high heat/humidity days.

In addition, there should also be bottles of water on ice in the work area, or another method of getting cool/sanitized water to the crews, such as filling stations in a warehouse setting. Easy access to water should be on every jobsite. Invest in shaded canopies that can be moved around as the break area moves, and also include fans or swamp coolers to circulate the air.

At our company, we ensure teams working in high-heat conditions have a dedicated area for cooling off. Depending on the site, there may be an air-conditioned office or break area, dedicated cooling trailer or shaded area with swamp cooler. For many workers, simply knowing they have the option to sit someplace cooler is a comfort, and it puts safety top of mind.

Breaks and acclimation periods are often encouraged by employers, but a commonality across the construction industry is that many employees don’t feel comfortable taking a break when their peers are still working, citing they say don’t want to let their peers down — and they may fear being teased for needing a break sooner or more frequently than others. We must acknowledge that each of us is built differently and, depending on several factors (health, medication, diet, rest, hydration, etc.), our bodies require different needs, and on different schedules.

Leading the team to safety
As leaders, we can create a safe environment for employees to take breaks as needed, speak up about breaks and lead the way by taking breaks ourselves. Our firm encourages leaders by setting these expectations and leading our crews. Verbalize when you need to rest, or need water and ask, “Does anyone else need a rest or water?”

Examples like this will help keep teams hydrated, cool and productive during the warmer months — or at least to tolerate them better.

Technology
There are technologies available to help teams understand when there may be an exposure and assist them with communicating those hazards to the workforce; for example, OSHA’s free Heat Safety Tool.

Wearable technology is also being used on some projects to help monitor the status of workers, alerting them when they need to take a break or alarming them when conditions are more serious. While not widely available yet, these can help address the psychological safety conditions surrounding breaks that the industry experiences.

In extreme climates, like Arizona, technology is available to detect hydration levels on demand called MX3 Hydration Testers. This helps monitor hydration levels when a team member feels symptomatic.

The bottom line: Summer heat is unavoidable on the jobsite, but heat-related illnesses are not. Prevention is the most effective defense and equipping workers with knowledge — along with the confidence to speak up — helps keep everyone safe and healthy.

Scott Risch, MBA, CSP, is senior vice president of Health, Safety & Environmental at Rosendin Electric.