U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh spoke about the efforts made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect employees from heat-related threats at work during a tour of an Alabama water utility company last week.
Walsh and company officials with the Spanish Fort Water System in Spanish Fort, Ala., discussed the types of heat risks workers face at the utility, as well as the company's involvement in OSHA's on-site consultation program and its process for creating and launching a plan to prevent heat-related illness, DOL reports in the April 14 statement.
“Extreme heat hazards aren’t limited to outdoor occupations, the seasons or geography," Sec. Walsh said at the meeting. "Heat illness presents a growing hazard for millions of workers."
Sec. Walsh said OSHA's enforcement program improves company compliance with the agency's Heat Illness Prevention campaign as it works to develop long-term heat-illness regulations.
Employers are responsible for keeping workers safe, Sec. Walsh said in the report, and workers should know the symptoms of heat-triggered illness and how to respond in an emergency.
“Through this work, we’re also empowering workers with knowledge of their rights," Sec. Walsh said in the report, "especially the right to speak up about their safety without fear of retaliation.”
OSHA is conducting a public stakeholder meeting May 3 to explain its continuing efforts to protect workers from heat-related hazards, including its Heat Illness Prevention Campaign, the announcement states. Other topics include OSHA's enforcement protocols and compliance assistance programs.
