The Facts on Cal/OSHA\'s Shade \"Trigger\"
The Facts on Cal/OSHA's Shade "Trigger"
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is launching an awareness campaign on heat illness prevention in advance of the state's hot-weather season. Earlier this week, the Division kicked off the effort with well-publicized events in the Central Valley.
In doing so, DOSH also announced its decision on an important interpretation of the heat illness prevention standard, General Industry Safety Orders §3395 -- the temperature "trigger" for which employers must have shade up and available for the beginning of a work shift. It is 85°F, based on the National Weather Service forecast as of 5 p.m. the previous day. "If the prediction on the previous day is for the temperature high for the area to exceed 85 degrees, shade must be up as of the beginning of the shift and present throughout," according to a revised question-and-answer document on heat illness prevention released by the Division (available in the Resources section at www.cal-osha.com).
DOSH also says that generally, employers must provide shade for at least 25% of employees on a shift, and it must be reachable within no more than one-quarter of a mile, or a five-minute walk, whichever is shorter. But, the agency says, "there must always be enough shade to accommodate those employees who seek it to cool off."
General media reporting on the campaign have missed some of the subtleties of Cal/OSHA's enforcement stance. Here's a sample from a San Joaquin Valley newspaper: "It was also reported that Cal-OSHA Chief Len Welsh said temperatures higher than 85 degrees will trigger enforcement of the labor rules in place to prevent heat illness." This is flatly wrong. The 85°F trigger applies only to the shade requirement. There is no temperature that triggers enforcement of the standard in general. "It really is not an 85-degree trigger for any of the elements," DOSH Deputy Chief for Field Enforcement Vicky Heza tells Cal-OSHA Reporter.
Likewise, the temperature does not trigger the general shade requirements, only the provision that shade must be ready and available at the start of the shift when the temperature is expected to exceed 85ï¾°. Employers generally must make shade available for employees who believe they need a preventive recovery period.
Heza says DOSH arrived at 85° because it felt a majority of stakeholders at a recent meeting on heat illness enforcement stated that the trigger should be between 80° and 90°, so 85° was a logical midpoint. "We know that at 85° people are going to feel the heat and are going to request preventative recovery" periods, she explained.
In the six heat-related fatalities in 2008, five involved employees working in temperatures between 90° and 108°, Heza noted. The sixth person was working in 83° heat, but had complained of feeling ill the day before when the heat was much higher.
The Facts on Cal/OSHA's Shade "Trigger"
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is launching an awareness campaign on heat illness prevention in advance of the state's hot-weather season. Earlier this week, the Division kicked off the effort with well-publicized events in the Central Valley.
In doing so, DOSH also announced its decision on an important interpretation of the heat illness prevention standard, General Industry Safety Orders §3395 -- the temperature "trigger" for which employers must have shade up and available for the beginning of a work shift. It is 85°F, based on the National Weather Service forecast as of 5 p.m. the previous day. "If the prediction on the previous day is for the temperature high for the area to exceed 85 degrees, shade must be up as of the beginning of the shift and present throughout," according to a revised question-and-answer document on heat illness prevention released by the Division (available in the Resources section at www.cal-osha.com).
DOSH also says that generally, employers must provide shade for at least 25% of employees on a shift, and it must be reachable within no more than one-quarter of a mile, or a five-minute walk, whichever is shorter. But, the agency says, "there must always be enough shade to accommodate those employees who seek it to cool off."
General media reporting on the campaign have missed some of the subtleties of Cal/OSHA's enforcement stance. Here's a sample from a San Joaquin Valley newspaper: "It was also reported that Cal-OSHA Chief Len Welsh said temperatures higher than 85 degrees will trigger enforcement of the labor rules in place to prevent heat illness." This is flatly wrong. The 85°F trigger applies only to the shade requirement. There is no temperature that triggers enforcement of the standard in general. "It really is not an 85-degree trigger for any of the elements," DOSH Deputy Chief for Field Enforcement Vicky Heza tells Cal-OSHA Reporter.
Likewise, the temperature does not trigger the general shade requirements, only the provision that shade must be ready and available at the start of the shift when the temperature is expected to exceed 85ï¾°. Employers generally must make shade available for employees who believe they need a preventive recovery period.
Heza says DOSH arrived at 85° because it felt a majority of stakeholders at a recent meeting on heat illness enforcement stated that the trigger should be between 80° and 90°, so 85° was a logical midpoint. "We know that at 85° people are going to feel the heat and are going to request preventative recovery" periods, she explained.
In the six heat-related fatalities in 2008, five involved employees working in temperatures between 90° and 108°, Heza noted. The sixth person was working in 83° heat, but had complained of feeling ill the day before when the heat was much higher.
