One of the most important labour risks when the temperatures go high are heat illnesses. Workers exposed to the sun must follow the appropriate security measures to avoid health problems.

During the months of summer, heat becomes one of the main threats for the health of workers in certain types of jobs where the exposure to high temperatures is constant.

Employees must adapt as much as possible to the weather conditions by adopting the needed prevention measures to reduce the labour risks derived from heat. When the ambient temperature exceeds the 30 degrees centigrade, the labour activity can start being dangerous, when it exceeds the 30 degrees centigrade, the danger substantially increases.

When the body temperature exceeds 38 degrees centigrade it can cause health damages

Whatever the thermal levels of the ambient are, people must keep a constant body temperature between 35 and 37 degrees centigrade. Health starts endangering when exceeding 38ºC, and from 40.5ºC consequences can be mortal. 

Exposure to heat is the main cause of these temperature increase. This fact takes place in jobs where people are exposed to the sun or to machines and hot surfaces, such as pressing machines or industrial ovens.

The most common consequence is heat stroke. This is the main indicator that the employee’s body is in no condition of working exposed to high temperatures after having exceeded its limits due to different factors that also participate in this illness. Heat strokes can cause serious injuries and, sometimes, the ending can be lethal.

Para no llegar a ese punto, las empresas y trabajadores deben adoptar las medidas de prevención correspondientes y tener en cuenta las recomendaciones que se realizan para evitar estos problemas.

To not reach that point, the firms and workers must adopt the corresponding prevention measures and take into consideration the recommendations to avoid these problems.

Preventive measures against heat strokes           

• Protective equipment. The head is one of the main parts of the body to protect, so wearing fabric caps can help prevent discomfort and heat strokes.

• Constantly hydrating and carrying out breaks in the shade. When body temperature rises, our organism tries to reduce the thermal levels through reactions such as sweating. The quantity of water the human body loses is significant, therefore, keeping the body hydrated is key to control temperature.
• Reducing the exposure to the sun during the heat hours of the day. For that, it is advisable adapting the working hours to be able of carrying out the most load of work during the hours when the temperature is not that high.  

Acting after a heat stroke

The main priorities after suffering an accident of this kind is moving the person affected away from the heat source and try and reduce the corporal temperature. These are some recommendations to follow:Removing clothes and applying damp cloths with cold water in different areas of the body as the forehead of the armpits.

• Drinking fresh water, but only if the person affected is conscient.
• Putting the feet up so that blood reaches the head.