As summer approaches, it is crucial employers understand how to keep workers hydrated. In a recently published tip sheet, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration explains that our bodies heat up as we work and cool down through sweating, which can lead to dehydration and heat-related illness.
Safety+Health magazine shares the following OSHA tips for employers to ensure workers are properly hydrated.
- Educate workers about the importance of hydration and what to avoid.
- Equip all work areas with accessible and visible cool water (less than 60 F).
- Encourage workers to drink at least 1 cup (8 ounces) of water every 15-20 minutes while working in the heat—not just when they feel thirsty.
- Maintain a cool or shaded location for rest breaks.
- Designate a relief person so workers can take a water break, or have water brought directly to workers who cannot leave their work area.
- Encourage workers to keep a sealable bottle of cool water in their work area so they can hydrate.
- Consider providing electrolyte products when workers perform strenuous, sweat-producing job tasks for extended periods of time. Taking scheduled meal breaks also can help replace lost electrolytes.
- Be sure workers know they should hydrate before, during and after work.
Check out NRCA’s recently released Heat Stress for Roofers Training Course, which provides important industry heat stress data and its effects on roofing workers, including how to prevent heat-related illnesses, contributing risk factors, policies and regulations surrounding heat stress, and a guide for providing a workplace heat-related illness plan.
