Heat Illness Prevention Plan — California

1. Purpose and scope

This plan describes how [Company name] prevents heat illness for employees working outdoors. It covers every job site and is available to employees and their representatives at the site and on request. It is written in English and Spanish; if most of a crew speaks another language, a version in that language is provided.

Construction is one of the industries where the high-heat procedures in this plan apply at 95°F or above.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

2. Responsibilities

[Plan administrator (name and title)] is responsible for this plan, phone [Plan administrator phone]. The plan administrator makes sure supplies are available, supervisors are trained, and the plan is reviewed every year before the hot season.

Supervisors and foremen who carry out this plan on site: [Supervisors and foremen who carry out this plan on site]

Every worker is expected to drink water often, take cool-down rest when needed, watch out for co-workers, and report symptoms right away.

3. Drinking water

Fresh, pure, suitably cool drinking water is free and located as close as practical to where employees work. There is enough for each employee to drink at least one quart per hour for the whole shift.

[How drinking water is provided]

Supervisors remind workers to drink water often, especially in the first hours of hot days, and do not wait for workers to feel thirsty.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

4. Shade and cool-down rest

When the temperature is above 80°F, shade is up and available, as close as practical to the work, and large enough for everyone on a rest, meal or recovery break to sit in a normal posture without touching each other. When it is 80°F or less, shade is provided promptly on request.

[How shade or cooling is provided]

Employees may take a preventive cool-down rest in the shade whenever they feel they need it to avoid overheating. The rest lasts at least five minutes and until symptoms are gone. A worker who shows symptoms during a cool-down rest is watched and given first aid or emergency help — not ordered back to work.

Workers report heat illness symptoms in themselves or a co-worker to a supervisor immediately. No one is disciplined for reporting symptoms or for taking a cool-down rest.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

5. Checking the weather

[Who checks the forecast and heat index, and how]

When a heat advisory or excessive heat warning is issued, supervisors put the high-heat procedures in place for that day.

6. High-heat procedures (95°F or above)

When the temperature reaches 95°F, supervisors put these procedures in place:

How workers are observed: [How workers are observed during high heat]

• Effective communication by voice, observation or electronic means so workers can reach a supervisor when needed.
• Workers are observed for alertness and signs of heat illness — by a supervisor or designee, a buddy system, or regular check-ins.
• One or more employees on each site are designated to call for emergency medical services, and others are allowed to call when the designee is not available.
• Workers are reminded throughout the shift to drink plenty of water.
• A short pre-shift meeting reviews the high-heat procedures, encourages drinking water, and reminds workers of their right to take a cool-down rest.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

7. Acclimatization

Workers need time to get used to heat. During a heat wave — any day at 80°F or above that is at least 10 degrees hotter than the average of the previous five days — every worker is closely observed by a supervisor or designee for the whole shift.

A worker newly assigned to a high-heat area is closely observed for the first 14 days. Supervisors consider lighter workloads, more frequent breaks, or shifting heavy work to cooler hours during these periods.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

8. Emergency response

Workers reach a supervisor this way: [How workers reach a supervisor during the shift]

Designated to call 911: [Who is designated to call 911]. Anyone who sees a worker with signs of severe heat illness calls 911 right away.

Directions for emergency responders: [How you give emergency responders directions to each job site]

• Signs of heat stroke (confusion, slurred speech, fainting, seizures, hot skin, no sweating): call 911, move the worker to shade, cool them with water, ice or wet cloths, and stay with them until help arrives.
• Signs of heat exhaustion (heavy sweating, headache, dizziness, nausea, cramps): stop work, rest in shade, drink water, loosen clothing, and keep watching; call 911 if it gets worse or doesn't improve.
• Never leave a sick worker alone and never send them home without offering first aid or emergency medical services.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

9. Training

Every employee is trained before working in heat. Supervisors are trained before supervising employees who work in heat. Training covers:

• Environmental and personal risk factors for heat illness, and the extra workload of heavy PPE and clothing.
• This company's procedures, including the employer's duty to provide water, shade, cool-down rests and first aid, and the employee's right to use them without retaliation.
• Drinking water often — small amounts, up to four cups per hour in heat.
• Acclimatization and why it matters.
• Types, signs and symptoms of heat illness, and first aid.
• Reporting symptoms in yourself or co-workers, and the emergency response procedures in this plan.
• For supervisors: how to carry out this plan, what to do when a worker shows symptoms, and how to monitor weather reports.

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3395

10. Indoor work

Indoor work areas where the temperature reaches 82°F are covered by Cal/OSHA's separate indoor heat rule, § 3396, which adds assessment and control measures starting at 87°F. Arrangements for indoor work: [Indoor work (only if you have indoor areas that reach 82°F)]

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 3396

11. Review

[Plan administrator (name and title)] reviews this plan every year before the hot season, after any heat-related incident, and when work conditions change.