With temperatures across the nation edging upward as the official start of the summer season approaches, the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) has made a variety of critical resources available online, to help workers and employers stay safe during the summer heat.

CPWR Executive Director Pete Stafford says you can find them in three different online homes:

1. At www.cpwr.com you can find a simple and straightforward toolbox talk on preventing heat illness. It's a printable, two-sided document with a graphic illustration on the front and a short, interactive script on the back. A presenter can hold the graphic up for view while referring to the notes. (While you are there, check out some of the other 52 topics in the toolbox talks series!)

2. At Construction Solutions, CPWR's online source for construction contractors addressing common occupational hazards, you can find an entire heat stress program - and also information on specially designed PPE like cooling vests. (And why not look at ideas for addressing some other construction hazards that concern your craft and trade?)

3. And in eLCOSH, the electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health, we have collected dozens of items from a variety of sources addressing heat exposure, from OSHA's Quick Card on Heat Stress to a Heat Training Guide produced by the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley. (When you've consulted eLCOSH on heat you can search for other resources, narrowing by job site, hazard, trade or all three.)