A study examining a data set of worker injuries linked 28,000 annual injuries to exposure to high temperatures. David Michaels, the longest-serving head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), led a team of researchers from George Washington and Harvard universities, along with Barrak Alahmad, director of the Occupational Safety and Climate Change Program at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health.
“Extreme heat can cause fatal heat stroke. But before reaching these levels, we found that even moderate heat can slightly increase the risk of workplace injuries,” Alahmad said in a statement. “A result that was remarkably consistent across almost all industries we examined.”
“A Nationwide Analysis of Heat and Workplace Injuries” was published Oct. 6 in the journal Environmental health. Key findings from the study included the following:
- The risk of injury to workers begins to increase when the daily heat index reaches around 30°C and rises sharply above 30°C.
- Worker injuries were related to exposure to extreme heat and occurred in almost all industries, including indoor environments.
- Workers in states with their own workplace heat exposure standards appear to be at lower risk of injury on hot days.
Last year, Maryland became the sixth state to adopt its own heat safety standard, joining California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.
Last summer, OSHA proposed a heat injury and illness prevention standard for outdoor and indoor workplaces. In September, OSHA extended the comment period for its proposal.
Researchers analyzed all injury cases reported to OSHA's Injury Tracking Application in 2023 from establishments with 100 or more employees, primarily in high-risk industries. In 2023, OSHA issued a final rule requiring large establishments (those with 100 or more employees) in certain high-risk industries to electronically file detailed records of every work-related injury and illness, regardless of whether it resulted in a workers' compensation claim.
Injuries were geocoded and matched to high-resolution weather data for specific injury dates. The researchers compared the heat index on each injury day (case) with corresponding non-injury control days for the same worker. They also examined patterns of heat injuries by industry and in states with/without workplace heat standards.
The industry with the highest number of injuries was healthcare and human services, which accounted for 25.8% of all reported injuries, followed by transportation and warehousing (21.8%), retail (19.1%) and manufacturing (18.1%).
Most injuries were recorded in the South (33.0%), followed by the Midwest (25.9%), the West (24.3%) and the Northeast (16.8%). Manufacturing injuries were most common in the Midwest, and injuries in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting were most common in the West.
New FMCSA Administrator Confirmed
The U.S. Senate confirmed Derek Barrs as the new administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Barrs was confirmed under the same Senate resolution as OSHA Chief David Keeling.
“My mission is clear – to strengthen safety, demand accountability and deliver results that make a real difference,” Barrs said in an Oct. 8 statement.
“Working with law enforcement and industry partners, I am committed to making bold progress that will keep Americans safe on our roads and advance our nation.”