OSHA revises app to help workers avoid heat illness

Washington – As hot weather approaches, OSHA is placing potentially lifesaving information at outdoor workers’ fingertips.

The agency has updated its Heat Safety Tool phone application, which is available for download on iOS and Android devices in English and Spanish. Workers can use the app to calculate the heat index at their worksite and determine heat illness risk levels.

The app includes information for workers to monitor themselves and others for heat illness signs and symptoms. OSHA said it updated the app for iPhones to include full-screen color alerts for all heat conditions, as well as other technical upgrades.

OSHA administrator David Michaels said heat sickens thousands of workers every year and could be deadly unless proper actions are taken.

“Anyone who works outside in hot weather is at risk,” Michaels said in a video about OSHA’s heat illness prevention campaign. “That includes construction workers, roofers, landscapers, farm workers, road crew workers, baggage handlers and others.”

Michaels said employers need to ensure workers are provided ample drinking water, allow frequent breaks in shaded areas and schedule arduous tasks earlier in the day.