The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries announced that new heat protection for outdoor workers will go into effect on July 17, introducing an update to expand the heat protection standard for outdoor workers first implemented in 2008.
The rules lower the temperature to 80 degrees requiring employers to take certain measures such as providing drinking water and shade.
Workers must be allowed to take cool-down periods as needed to prevent overheating. Employers must follow high heat procedures that require close observation of workers and mandatory cool-down periods of 10 minutes every two hours when temperatures reach 90 degrees and 15 minutes every hour at 100 degrees or higher.
The updated permanent rules also add acclimatization and exposure to high heat requirements, saying employers must carefully observe all workers during heat waves and any workers recently assigned to work in the heat or returning from an absence of up to 1
4 days.WorkCompCentral is a sister magazine to Business Insurance. More stories here.
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