Kent Health and Safety Group

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Kent Health and Safety Group

• 2nd March 2006
• Delphi Diesel Systems

Hazards of Working in Hot Conditions. David Wigens
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David Wigens

• 17 years as a health and safety practitioner in
• Electronics
• Pharmaceuticals
• Waste
• Consultancy

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Legal RequirementsEmployers Duties

• The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• Safe Systems of Work
• Safe Place of Work
• The provision and maintenance of a working
  environment for his employees that is SFARP,
  safe, without risks to health
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regs.
  1999
• Risk Assessment
• Identify Hazards
• Identify who might be at risk

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Legal RequirementsEmployers Duties

• Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs. 1992
• Effective and suitable provision shall be made to
  ensure that every enclosed workplace is
  ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or
  purified air.
• Manual Handling Operations Regs. 1992
• make a suitable and sufficient assessment of all
  such manual handling operations to be undertaken
  (Schedule 1 Factor 3 The working environment -
  extremes of temperature or humidity)

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Legal RequirementsEmployers Duties

• No upper temperature limits
• Basis is Risk Assessment

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Risk Assessment

• Five Steps to Risk Assessment

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Risk Assessment

• Step 1 Identify the hazards

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Hazards
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Heat Stress - Health Effects

• Fatigue
• Dehydration
• Hyperthermia
• Heat Exhaustion
• Heat Stroke/, Core Temp 40ºC (Normally 37 ºC )
• Classic summer months
• Exertional may continue sweating
• Central Nervous System dysfunction
• Core temp gt41.1ºC (hyperpyrexia) brain damage
  possible
• Cardio-respiratory failure
• Organ failure

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Heat Stress - Symptoms

• Inability to concentrate
• Muscle cramps
• Heat rash
• Severe thirst - a late symptom
• Fainting
• Heat exhaustion - fatigue, giddiness, nausea,
  headache, moist skin
• Heat stroke - hot dry skin, confusion,
  convulsions and eventual loss of consciousness.
  Can result in death if not detected and treated
  at an early stage.

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Body Responses

• As core temperature increases, the body response
  is activated by the hypothalamus
• Sweat glands open to allow heat loss by
  evaporation. (Main mechanism to regulate body
  temperature).

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Body Responses

• Vasodilation increases blood flow to skin
  surface to permit heat loss by radiation,
  convection and some conduction.

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Body Responses

• For both sweating and vasodilation responses, the
  cooling effects are reliant on air movement, air
  temperature and humidity.
• If there is a high humidity and/or low air
  movement, heat loss through sweating (evaporative
  cooling) can be impaired.

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Body Responses

• If the body is unable self cool, then
• In these circumstances the body's core
  temperature will rise, and the individual will
  become fatigued.
• If the core temperature is allowed to continue to
  increase then heat exhaustion and heat stroke can
  follow.
• Heat stroke is serious and can lead to death if
  not treated.

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Risk Assessment

• Step 2 Identify individuals who may be harmed
  and how

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Hot Work Environments

• Some Industries/Occupations where hot
  environments or work may be present

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Individuals

• Susceptibility due to
• Medical conditions e.g.
• heart conditions
• Respiratory conditions, asthma
• Illness
• Medication
• Pregnancy

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Risk Assessment

• Step 3 Evaluate the risks and decide whether
  existing precautions are adequate or more should
  be done

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Controls

• Engineering Controls
• Reduce temperature of equipment where possible
• Insulate sources of heat, pipes ovens etc.
• Mechanical Aids
• Environmental control systems
• Ventilation
• L24 ACOP (WHSWR)
• Enclosed workplaces should be sufficiently well
  ventilated so that stale air, and air which is
  hot or humid because of the processes or
  equipment in the workplace, is replaced at a
  reasonable rate.
• Air movement, open windows, use of fans.
• Air conditioning, (refrigeration, humidity
  control, air movement, air changes)

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Controls

• Separation
• Barriers/screens
• Thermal refuges (cool rooms)
• Safe Systems of Work
• Rest breaks
• Restrict exposure to heat
• Control amount of work expected of individual
• Rehydration, provide water and encourage to drink
  before, during (not practical in some
  circumstances) and after activity
• PPE
• Need to ensure does not introduce other hazards

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Health Surveillance

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work
  Regulations
• Regulation 6 Health Surveillance
• Every employer shall ensure that his employees
  are provided with such health surveillance as is
  appropriate having regard to the risks to their
  health and safety which are identified by the
  assessment.

ACOP Health surveillance will be required where
the assessment shows the following criteria to
apply there is an identifiable disease or
adverse health condition related to the work
concerned, e.g. skin cancer and valid
techniques are available to detect indications of
the disease or condition, observation and tests
and there is a reasonable likelihood that the
disease or condition may occur under the
particular conditions of work and surveillance
is likely to further the protection of the health
and safety of the employees to be covered.
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Risk Assessment

• Step 4 Record findings
• Step 5 Review assessment

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References

• HSG 194, Thermal comfort in the workplace
• GIS 1, Heat stress in the workplace. What you
  need to know as an employer
• INDG 147, Keep you top on health risks from
  working in the sun
• RR337 The effects of thermal environments on the
  risks associated with manual handling