Excessive Heat Training Keeps Municipal Employees Safe in the Summer Sun
NEW BRUNSWICK – July 9, 2024 – With the federal government proposing new rules to address excessive heat in the workplace, the Middlesex County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund (MCMJIF) said that ongoing training is key to keeping employees safe.
The group offers voluntary safety training courses to local government, educating supervisors and employees about the best ways in which to stay safe when the mercury soars into the 90s and even the 100s.
“You may not often think about it, but municipal workers are out serving the public no matter how hot the temperatures get,” said MCMJIF Chair Harry Delgado. “Workers are under the hot sun repairing the roads, laying concrete, trimming trees and undertaking many other jobs that can be quickly exhaustive in extreme temperatures.
“Moreover, there are many indoor jobs that also can drain employees and create potentially dangerous situations,” Delgado added. “There are workers dealing with wastewater, electrical utilities and construction sites, for example, where the high temperatures can be very difficult to handle.”
To that end, the MCMJIF offers a “Heat Stress Safety Training” seminar, in which workers and their supervisors learn the latest about safety and health hazards, heat stress prevention, first aid, biological hazards and severe weather hazards. The program is run through a longtime vendor, Skyline Environmental, Inc. of Matawan.
“The goal of the MCMJIF is to keep local government employees healthy and productive,” Delgado said. “Not only is it the obvious thing to do, but taking care of workers keeps down insurance premiums for taxpayers. Heat stress is completely avoidable; but training is often needed to ensure the proper protocols are taken.”
MCMJIF officials are in support of a new federal measure, designed to protect an estimated 36 million U.S. workers from injuries related to heat exposure on the job. The proposed rules would establish the first major federal safety standard of its kind.
Such a mandate follows what MCMJIF members are regularly doing – identifying heat hazards, developing emergency response plans related to heat illness, and providing training to employees and supervisors on the signs and symptoms of such illnesses. MCMJIF members already have established rest breaks, provide shade and water, and heat acclimatization — or the building of tolerance to higher temperatures — for new workers.
Part of the training focuses on various heat-related illnesses and the treatments related to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps and sunburn.
As the planet continues to warm, an estimated 2,300 people in the U.S. died from heat-related illness in 2023. It is a startling number compared to 1992 to 2022, when a total of 986 workers across all industry sectors in the U.S. died from exposure to heat, with construction accounting for about 34% of all occupational heat-related deaths, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. During that time, 334 construction workers died due to heat exposure on the job.
“As the hottest month of the year gets underway, government employees are at greater risk of heat stroke, dangerous dehydration and heart-related heart stress,” said James Gotay, president of Skyline Environmental. “The MCMJIF continues to play a key role in keeping its member employees safe through training, awareness and advocacy.”
The MCMJIF is spreading helpful tips for workers to prevent heat illness:
- Drink cool water
- Take rest breaks
- Find shade or a cool area
- Wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothes
- Check on each other
- Provide training on heat illness to all workers and have an emergency plan
Learn more at MCMJIF.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Alan Buddman
