Six Tips to Prevent Heat-related Illness and Enforcement

Summer may not officially start until June 21, but summer heat doesn’t wait for the solstice. And that heat makes work harder and more hazardous for workers across the US.

Between 2021 and 2024, exposure to environmental heat resulted in an estimated average of 3,793 days away, restricted, and transfer (DART) cases and 48 fatalities per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Six Tips for Heat Illness Prevention, Indoors and Out

Heat illness, heat stress, and related conditions can be prevented. Here are six ways safety leaders protect their workers from heat’s adverse effects.

1. New employees and employees returning from absence need time to condition their bodies to warm or hot working environments. These employees are more susceptible to heat-related illness until they have been acclimated, and the following points apply to this group even more.

2. Human bodies need time to cool down throughout the day. Employees should be encouraged to take breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas to help regulate their internal body temperature throughout the day. If there is no shade at the work location, creativity may be required to create space that allows cooling down.

3. Depending on the heat of the day, your workers may need a shorter, earlier workday with more frequent breaks. Work in an air-conditioned building when possible.

4. OSHA has suggested that workers drink water every 15 minutes. It may be too late to hydrate once the body has used up all its water. So don’t wait until you’re thirsty—hydrate early and often.

5. Workers should be able to identify when they or their coworkers are exhibiting symptoms of overheating, like flushed faces or light-headedness. Training workers to catch heat illness early can help prevent it from becoming more serious.

6. Employers need to be proactive and watch their workers. Recognizing heat exhaustion early may make the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The Current Landscape of Heat Hazard Enforcement

While OSHA’s workplace safety and health regulations do not yet contain a Heat Standard, one is in progress. Employers can be cited under the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act of 1970 for not protecting employees from known hazards, including heat-related hazards. OSHA makes that clear on its website:

The courts have interpreted OSHA's general duty clause to mean that an employer has a legal obligation to provide a workplace free of conditions or activities that either the employer or industry recognizes as hazardous and that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate the hazard. This includes heat-related hazards that are likely to cause death or serious bodily harm.
osha.gov/heat-exposure/standards

In April 2026, OSHA revised its National Emphasis Program (NEP) to protect employees from heat-related hazards in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

The program now uses OSHA and BLS data from calendar years 2022–2025 to direct inspection priorities to 55 high-risk industries.

Additionally, the revised NEP:

• Removed outdated background information and references.
• Updated links.
• Revised inspection goals.
• Reorganized and added Appendix I: Evaluation of a Heat Program.
• Reorganized and added Appendix J: Citation Guidance.
• Added coding for Worksite Assistance.
• Added coding for Unprogrammed Emphasis Hazards.

Protect Your Workers from Heat Hazards

Lion’s Heat Illness Prevention – Supervisors course prepares supervisors to recognize and protect their teams from the effects of heat stress, heat stroke, and heat exhaustion, among other injuries and illnesses associated with heat.

Lion’s Heat Illness Prevention – Employees course provides initial or refresher training for employees who are at risk for heat stress, heat stroke, exhaustion, cramps, heat rash, and other injuries and illnesses associated with working in heat or humidity.

Both courses are also available in Spanish. OSHA requires employers to provide adequate, relevant safety training in a manner that employees can understand.

Tags: Heat hazards, heat illness, heat safety, osha