New toolkit helps employers manage heat stress on workers as the climate warms

As heat warnings become more common in the summer months, it means more workers are at risk of heat stress on the job.

Now, a research centre in Sudbury, Ont., has helped create an online toolkit to prepare employers for heat events, and reduce the risk of heat stress for their employees.

Long-term exposure to heat in the workplace can lead to chronic health issues including kidney disease, damage to the cardiovascular system and even brain damage, says Sandra Dorman, the director of the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) at Laurentian University.

"I really think there's been a gap in educating workers about the long-term chronic effects of regular heat exposure," Dorman said.

"Most workers don't know that they can get kidney disease from it, right?"

Dorman says climate change is prolonging the number of days each year that workers are at risk of heat stress.

She says it's not just people who work outdoors in industries like construction and agriculture who are at risk.

"One of the groups that's really vocal right now is actually education workers," Dorman said. "Schools are not well ventilated. They frequently don't have air conditioning and sometimes they can't even open the windows."

One tool employers are looking at to track the effect of heat on workers, she says, iswearable technology like smart watches.

The technology can track a person's vital signs and temperature, and tell peoplewhen it's time to cool off if it shows they're getting too hot.

But it also comes with privacy concerns in terms of the information the technology collects, and how it's stored.

"How much information do they [companies] need to make reasonable decisions?" Dorman said.

The online toolkit provides resources for employers that might not have their own plan in place for dealing with the heat.