This article was originally published by Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)

As California temperatures rise, employers are being urged to take proactive steps to protect workers from the dangers of heat illness in both indoor and outdoor settings.

As temperatures in California are rising, Cal/OSHA, a division of the Department of Industrial Relations, is reminding employers of the requirement to protect their workers at indoor and outdoor worksites from heat illness. Heat illness is dangerous and can be deadly.

Cal/OSHA provides guidance, educational materials, model programs, and other resources, including annual trainings held statewide in both English and Spanish. Cal/OSHA, in collaboration with the Nisei Farmers League, hosted a heat illness prevention training in Easton today to help prepare California’s agricultural workforce for the challenges of the summer heat. This collaborative training has been held nearly every year since 2008 to protect workers from heat illness and to highlight California’s safety requirements.

Participants gathered at the C.P.D.E.S. Portuguese Hall in Easton for heat illness prevention training in English and Spanish

What Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said: “California workers, especially those laboring outdoors or in hot indoor environments, face serious risks from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and other serious conditions during high temperatures. Our goal is to make sure employers and workers are prepared, informed, and equipped to prevent heat illness before it happens.”

Today’s training focused on practical strategies to prevent heat illness in outdoor and indoor work environments and requirements to protect workers during nighttime agricultural operations.

Under California’s Heat Illness Prevention Standards, employers are legally required to implement protective measures for outdoor workers and must protect workers at indoor workplaces when temperatures reach 82 degrees. Employers may be covered under both the indoor and outdoor regulations if they have workers in each setting. See the Comparison Chart of Indoor and Outdoor Heat Illness Prevention Standards .

Cal/OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention Special Emphasis Program includes enforcement of the heat regulation and multilingual outreach and training programs for California’s employers and workers. Additional resources on heat illness prevention are available on 99calor.org, and Cal/OSHA also has a Heat Illness Prevention online tool for employers.

New Agriculture Unit

To address concerns in the agriculture industry, Cal/OSHA launched a first-of-its-kind Agricultural Enforcement Task Force and Outreach Unit, designed to strengthen enforcement, increase on-site inspections, and expand resources to better reach and protect workers.

With offices located throughout the state, this unit is tasked with conducting targeted enforcement, improving outreach, and addressing long-standing concerns over health and safety in the state’s agriculture sector.

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