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Run the water, rest, and shade plan

Heat illness 5 min 29 CFR 1926.21

Why it matters

1926.21 is the training rule. It does not set a water timer. Many crews still use their own heat plan: water about every 15 to 20 minutes, real shade, and a rest the foreman calls. The plan fails if the jug stays on the truck and the break is skipped because the pour is late.

The talk

The water jug is on the truck, two floors down from the deck. Shade is a story about the north wall, but the crew is standing in the sun next to the forms. The foreman is watching the concrete truck and does not want to stop. That is how a heat plan dies on a real day. Water, rest, and shade only work if the water is next to the work, the shade is actually shade, and somebody calls the break. A plan that lives on a paper in the trailer does not cool anyone who is up on the deck tying steel.

We cite 1926.21 for this talk. The employer trains the crew on the hazards of the job. It is training. It is not a water timer printed in the rule. Many crews still run their own heat plan: water about every 15 to 20 minutes. That time is our crew's heat plan. It is not a number written in 1926. Under that plan, water stays close to the work. You should not have to take a long walk to drink. Shade means the sun is off you, not a hot wall you lean on in full light. The foreman calls the rest break. The crew does not vote to skip it. Watch each other. If someone stops drinking or looks confused, the break happens then.

Today we set the plan before the heavy work starts. Put the water where we are working, close enough to drink without leaving the task for a long walk. Name the shade and go look at it so we know the sun is off that spot. The foreman calls the rest on the crew's heat plan, with water about every 15 to 20 minutes, and we take it. We do not skip the break because the pour is late or the truck is here. Finishing faster without water is how people go down. Watch the person next to you. If they are not drinking, say so. If the water runs out, we stop and refill it. The plan is part of the work.

Key points

  1. 1926.21 is training. It is not a water timer in the rule.
  2. Our heat plan is water about every 15 to 20 minutes. That time is the crew's plan.
  3. Water stays close to the work.
  4. Shade means the sun is actually off you.
  5. The foreman calls the rest break.
  6. Do not skip the break because the pour is late.
  7. Watch each other, and refill the water if it runs out.

Do this

  • Keep water close to the work.
  • Use real shade for the rest break.
  • Let the foreman call the break on the crew's heat plan.
  • Drink on that plan, about every 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Speak up if a partner is not drinking or looks off.

Do not do this

  • Do not call the 15 to 20 minutes a number printed in 1926.
  • Do not leave the water on the truck, far from the work.
  • Do not skip the break because the pour is late.
  • Do not treat a wall in full sun as shade.
  • Do not keep working if the water has run out.

Talk about it

  1. Where will the water sit so it is close to today's work?
  2. Where is the real shade we will use for the break?
  3. What do we do if the pour is late and someone wants to skip the break?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

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