From the course: Occupational Safety and Health: Working in the Heat
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Heat stress or exhaustion
From the course: Occupational Safety and Health: Working in the Heat
Heat stress or exhaustion
- Heat exhaustion, also referred to as heat stress, is the body's response to an excessive loss of water and salt, usually through excessive sweating when working or exercising in a hot environment. The elderly and people with high blood pressure, as we've talked about earlier, might be more susceptible to heat exhaustion. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature, and decreased urine output. A person suffering from heat exhaustion needs immediate attention and care. They need to be removed from the hot area. Get them in the shade or try and move them to an air-conditioned space like an office, a job site trailer, or a break room. They should be given liquids to drink, and they should remove any unnecessary clothing, additional layers like hard hats and safety vests and even work boots and socks. Remember when I discussed…