Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers

Margaret C.  Morrissey; Douglas J. Casa; Gabrielle J. Brewer; William M. Adams; Yuri  Hosokawa; Courteney L.  Benjamin; Andrew J.  Grundstein; David  Hostler; Brendon P.  McDermott; Meredith L.  McQuerry; Rebecca L. Stearns; Erica M.  Filep; David W.  DeGroot; Juley  Fulcher; Andreas D.  Flouris; Brenda L.  Jacklitsch; John F.  Jardine; Rebecca M.  Lopez; Ronda B.  McCarthy; Yannis Pitsiladis; Riana R.  Pryor; Zachary J.  Schlader; Caroline J.  Smith; Denise L.  Smith; June T.  Spector; Jennifer K.  Vanos; W. Jon  Williams; Nicole T.  Vargas; Susan W.  Yeargin

doi:10.1029/2021GH000443

Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers

Margaret C. Morrissey, Douglas J. Casa, Gabrielle J. Brewer, William M. Adams, Yuri Hosokawa, Courteney L. Benjamin, Andrew J. Grundstein, David Hostler, Brendon P. McDermott, Meredith L. McQuerry, Rebecca L. Stearns, Erica M. Filep, David W. DeGroot, Juley Fulcher, Andreas D. Flouris, Brenda L. Jacklitsch, John F. Jardine, Rebecca M. Lopez, Ronda B. McCarthy, Yannis PitsiladisRiana R. Pryor, Zachary J. Schlader, Caroline J. Smith, Denise L. Smith, June T. Spector, Jennifer K. Vanos, W. Jon Williams, Nicole T. Vargas, Susan W. Yeargin

Centre for Lifelong Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The purpose of this consensus document was to develop feasible, evidence-based occupational heat safety recommendations to protect the US workers that experience heat stress. Heat safety recommendations were created to protect worker health and to avoid productivity losses associated with occupational heat stress. Recommendations were tailored to be utilized by safety managers, industrial hygienists, and the employers who bear responsibility for implementing heat safety plans. An interdisciplinary roundtable comprised of 51 experts was assembled to create a narrative review summarizing current data and gaps in knowledge within eight heat safety topics: (a) heat hygiene, (b) hydration, (c) heat acclimatization, (d) environmental monitoring, (e) physiological monitoring, (f) body cooling, (g) textiles and personal protective gear, and (h) emergency action plan implementation. The consensus-based recommendations for each topic were created using the Delphi method and evaluated based on scientific evidence, feasibility, and clarity. The current document presents 40 occupational heat safety recommendations across all eight topics. Establishing these recommendations will help organizations and employers create effective heat safety plans for their workplaces, address factors that limit the implementation of heat safety best-practices and protect worker health and productivity.

Original language	English
Article number	e2021GH000443
Journal	GeoHealth
Volume	5
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000443
Publication status	Published - 31 Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank all task force members who were part of the December 10, 2020 Occupational Heat Stress Roundtable (Table?S1) for scoring each recommendation and providing feedback.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The Authors. GeoHealth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.

Keywords

heat risk management
heat stress
heat-related illness
occupational
safety

Access to Document

10.1029/2021GH000443Licence: CC BY

2021GH000443 (1)Final published version, 945 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Morrissey, M. C., Casa, D. J., Brewer, G. J., Adams, W. M., Hosokawa, Y., Benjamin, C. L., Grundstein, A. J., Hostler, D., McDermott, B. P., McQuerry, M. L., Stearns, R. L., Filep, E. M., DeGroot, D. W., Fulcher, J., Flouris, A. D., Jacklitsch, B. L., Jardine, J. F., Lopez, R. M., McCarthy, R. B., ... Yeargin, S. W. (2021). Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers. GeoHealth, 5(8), Article e2021GH000443. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000443

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abstract = "The purpose of this consensus document was to develop feasible, evidence-based occupational heat safety recommendations to protect the US workers that experience heat stress. Heat safety recommendations were created to protect worker health and to avoid productivity losses associated with occupational heat stress. Recommendations were tailored to be utilized by safety managers, industrial hygienists, and the employers who bear responsibility for implementing heat safety plans. An interdisciplinary roundtable comprised of 51 experts was assembled to create a narrative review summarizing current data and gaps in knowledge within eight heat safety topics: (a) heat hygiene, (b) hydration, (c) heat acclimatization, (d) environmental monitoring, (e) physiological monitoring, (f) body cooling, (g) textiles and personal protective gear, and (h) emergency action plan implementation. The consensus-based recommendations for each topic were created using the Delphi method and evaluated based on scientific evidence, feasibility, and clarity. The current document presents 40 occupational heat safety recommendations across all eight topics. Establishing these recommendations will help organizations and employers create effective heat safety plans for their workplaces, address factors that limit the implementation of heat safety best-practices and protect worker health and productivity.",

keywords = "heat risk management, heat stress, heat-related illness, occupational, safety",

author = "Morrissey, {Margaret C.} and Casa, {Douglas J.} and Brewer, {Gabrielle J.} and Adams, {William M.} and Yuri Hosokawa and Benjamin, {Courteney L.} and Grundstein, {Andrew J.} and David Hostler and McDermott, {Brendon P.} and McQuerry, {Meredith L.} and Stearns, {Rebecca L.} and Filep, {Erica M.} and DeGroot, {David W.} and Juley Fulcher and Flouris, {Andreas D.} and Jacklitsch, {Brenda L.} and Jardine, {John F.} and Lopez, {Rebecca M.} and McCarthy, {Ronda B.} and Yannis Pitsiladis and Pryor, {Riana R.} and Schlader, {Zachary J.} and Smith, {Caroline J.} and Smith, {Denise L.} and Spector, {June T.} and Vanos, {Jennifer K.} and Williams, {W. Jon} and Vargas, {Nicole T.} and Yeargin, {Susan W.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all task force members who were part of the December 10, 2020 Occupational Heat Stress Roundtable (Table?S1) for scoring each recommendation and providing feedback. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. The Authors. GeoHealth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.",

year = "2021",

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Morrissey, MC, Casa, DJ, Brewer, GJ, Adams, WM, Hosokawa, Y, Benjamin, CL, Grundstein, AJ, Hostler, D, McDermott, BP, McQuerry, ML, Stearns, RL, Filep, EM, DeGroot, DW, Fulcher, J, Flouris, AD, Jacklitsch, BL, Jardine, JF, Lopez, RM, McCarthy, RB, Pitsiladis, Y, Pryor, RR, Schlader, ZJ, Smith, CJ, Smith, DL, Spector, JT, Vanos, JK, Williams, WJ, Vargas, NT & Yeargin, SW 2021, 'Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers', GeoHealth, vol. 5, no. 8, e2021GH000443. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000443

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Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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