Learn the signs of heat illness
Heat illness 5 min 29 CFR 1926.21
Why it matters
Hot work wears a person down before they say so. Heavy sweating, hot dry skin, headache, cramps, or dizziness means stop. Confusion or a collapse is an emergency. The rule we cite is training: the employer trains the crew on the hazards of the job.
The talk
It is a summer afternoon on an open deck. The air is still. You have been tying bar, pushing a wheelbarrow, or hanging duct since morning. Your shirt is soaked. Or it was soaked, and now it is dry while you still feel hot. Your head hurts. Your stomach turns. A new person on the crew is trying to keep up with people who have been in this heat for weeks. Nobody wants to be the one who stops the work. That is how heat illness starts. The body is already behind, and the person keeps going because the task is not finished.
Learn the signs in plain words. Heavy sweating, or skin that is hot and dry. Headache. Nausea. Dizziness. Confusion. Cramps. A person who was pouring sweat and then goes hot, dry, and confused is in trouble. Confusion or a collapse is an emergency. Call for help. Move the person to shade. Cool them with water. Do not leave them alone. The rule we cite is 1926.21. The employer trains the crew on the hazards of the job. That rule is about training. It does not print a water schedule. Do not wait for a chart to tell you to drink. Drink before you are thirsty. A new worker needs more breaks. A heavy task needs more breaks. Rest in real shade.
Today, say the signs out loud so a new person hears them. Heavy sweating or hot dry skin. Headache. Nausea. Dizziness. Confusion. Cramps. Pick shade we will actually use, not a spot in the full sun. Keep water close to the work. Drink before you feel thirsty. If someone looks confused, stops making sense, or goes down, call for help. Move them to shade. Cool them with water. Stay with them. Do not send them to sit alone in the truck. The foreman gives extra breaks to anyone new and to anyone on the heaviest task. If a partner stops sweating and gets quiet or clumsy, say something. Do not wait for them to ask.
Key points
- 1926.21 means the employer trains the crew on the hazards of the job.
- That rule does not print a water schedule.
- Signs include heavy sweating or hot dry skin, headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion, and cramps.
- Confusion or collapse: call for help, move to shade, cool with water, and stay with them.
- A new worker and a heavy task need more breaks.
- Drink before you are thirsty.
- Rest in real shade, not in the full sun.
Do this
- Drink water before you feel thirsty.
- Rest in real shade.
- Give a new worker and a heavy task more breaks.
- Call for help if someone is confused or collapses.
- Cool the person with water and stay with them.
Do not do this
- Do not wait for a chart or a printed water schedule to tell you to drink.
- Do not ignore headache, nausea, cramps, dizziness, or skin that goes hot and dry.
- Do not leave a confused or collapsed person alone.
- Do not tell a new worker to keep up with no extra breaks.
- Do not call a spot in the full sun a rest break.
Talk about it
- Where is the real shade on this site today, and where is the water?
- Who is new, or on the heaviest task, and needs more breaks?
- If someone gets confused or goes down, who calls for help and who stays with them?
Listens with this phone's voice. Nothing is sent out.
Send to the crew
The crew link opens the talk so each person can read it and sign on their own phone.
Scan at the jobsite. It opens the crew sign-off.