It doesn’t have to be this tragic — both indoors and outdoors when temperatures reach dangerous, extreme levels. Preventive measures are found all over the internet. But heat prevention practices, in reality, are not always easily practiced, if attempted at all.
Protecting workers from hazardous energy through Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is a basic safety responsibility, but there are additional steps employers can take that go beyond the basic requirements.
The Department of Labor will ramp up enforcement of heat-safety violations, increasing inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture, while OSHA continues to develop a national standard for workplace heat-safety rules.
The current standard does not state clearly that PPE must fit each affected employee properly, which OSHA's general industry and maritime standards do.
OceanGate CEO trashes safety, but in doing so, promotes its mission: “You know, there’s a limit. At some point safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything.”
OSHA will publish some of the data collected on its website to allow employers, employees, potential employees, employee representatives, current and potential customers, researchers and the general public to use information about a company’s workplace safety and health record to make informed decisions.
At ASSP’s Safety 2023 event in San Antonio in early June, Doug Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, discussed the current state of OSHA and answered questions from audience live as they came in via text.