Laurie Jessome has been quoted in the article titled “Safety, Legal Considerations for Workers During Heat Waves,” published by HR Reporter.
Writes John Dujay: “While many Canadians are enjoying the summer weather and vacation season, ‘high heat’ can of course become a big hazard for workers. Heat stress is the biggest risk when outside temperatures are reaching record highs — and for some, the consequences could be deadly.”
Says Laurie: “Employers should not wait for workers to complain about heat stress.”
“What you’d like to have in a plan is very practical information educating about the risks; providing information about what symptoms of heat stroke or other heat risks might look like and give tools to identify when a worker is at risk, and then providing very specific steps that they can take to make the environment safer for the workers.”
The article goes on suggest that employers look to labour ministries for heat advisories and discusses how to handle unsafe work refusals and payroll issues.
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For more on this topic, see our recent Cassels Comment, Turning Down the Temperature: Reducing the Risk of Heat-Related Illnesses in the Workplace by Jed Blackburn.