Heat Related Emergencies!!!

ITS HEALTH-RELATED HAZARDS

WORKING IN HOT ENVIRONMENT

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

Excessive exposure to a hot environment can bring about a variety of HEAT-INDUCED DISORDERS.

FAINTING (COLLAPSE)

HEAT CRAMPS

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

HEAT CRAMPS Painful, spontaneous muscle spasm, usually calves and back muscles affected. Take briefly and cool down. Drink water and or electrolyte-containing drinks. Practice gentle massage of the affected muscle group.

FAINTING (COLLAPSE) A worker who is not accustomed to hot environment and who stand erect and immobile in heat may develop fainting. Upon lying down, the worker should soon recover. By moving around, and thereby preventing further fainting.

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

HEAT RASHES
Likely to occur in hot humid environment where the skin remains wet most of the time. Red papules appear in the area where the clothing is restrictive.

Take regular bathing and drying of the skin

TRANSIENT HEAT FATIGUE

Temporary state of discomfort and mental or psychological strain arising from prolonged heat exposure. The affected person is susceptible to decline in task performance, coordination and alertness.
The symptoms become minimal by a period of gradual exposure to hot environment.

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

ILLNESS
Heat Exhaustion

SIGNS
Sweating; dizziness; fatigue; nausea; vomiting; headache; fainting; rapid pulse; cool, moist skin; pale or flushed complexion; dilated pupils; near normal body temperature. No sweating (or sweating profusely); hot, dry, red skin, high & rising internal temperature, pupils constricted; mental confusion, loss of consciousness, convulsions, or coma; FATAL IF TREATMENT DELAYED!

CAUSES
Sustained exertion in heat; failure to replace water lost in sweat; may develop slowly over several days if you lose more water than you consume.

MANAGEMENT
Remove to cooler environment; keep at rest on back with feet elevated; fan & sponge with cool water; 1/2 cup of water every 15 minutes; seek medical attention. CALL FOR MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY BRAIN DAMAGE AND DEATH MAY RESULT IF TREATMENT IS DELAYED; remove to cooler environment; keep at rest on back with feet elevated; cool by any means possible - hosing, immersion, rubbing ice on the skin; give nothing by mouth.

PREVENTION
Drink a cup of water just before you work in the heat & 1/2 cup every 15 minutes during work.

Heat Stroke

Failure of sweating mechanism brought about by sustained exertion in unacclimatized workers; obesity, lack of physical fitness, recent alcohol intake, dehydration, & cardiovascular disease may be predisposing factors.

Monitor yourself while working in severe heat; drink a cup of water just before you work in the heat & 1/2 cup every 15 minutes during work.

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

ON WORKING IN HOT ENVIRONMENT Compensate your body for the water it loses by having sufficient cold water and drinks at close intervals even if you do not experience thirsty. Avoid working under direct sun as much as possible and schedule heaviest tasks in the relatively colder times. Take care to have sufficient salt in your food and avoid heavy fatty meals. Have a bath more than one time in very humid days with water and soap. Wear light cotton clothes and cover the head.

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!

Job-Specific and Engineering Control
Implement work rest cycle, as gradual exposure to heat gives the body time to be acclimatized.

Provide sufficient amount of cool water and drinks, to be available for out-door workers and encourage frequent drinking.
Rest shady areas provided with fans.

Good general ventilation and spot cooling. Shielding may be required.

Detect the early signs of heat stress and with any impending deterioration, refer the affected person to the clinic.

Drink water..

Working in Hot Environment and Its Health-Related Hazards!