Heat Stress at Provincial, Federal, and International Levels

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Table of Contents

Purpose of the Report
Provincial and Federal Perspective
International Perspective
The Executive Summary
Recommendations
Conclusion
References

Purpose of the Report

Nowadays, there are frequent accidents related to working in extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. Even though there are many laws and regulations in this regard, emergencies still happen. Primarily, this is due to the lack of a united, clear source of rules and regulations that would operate depending on the climatic zone. Furthermore, certain groups of stakeholders, such as employers and clients, are interested in the maximum productivity of their employees. Accordingly, employers often ignore working conditions norms. It formulates the purpose of the report, namely the comparison of norms and regulations for safe work at the provincial, federal and international levels.

Moreover, after the comparative analysis is done, it will be possible for one to develop possible proposals for improving the existing rules. It is formulated by the fact that data visualization will help determine all the advantages and disadvantages of the issue. Additionally, one will be able to suggest possible solutions to the problem in the aspect of the employees. It may include what needs to be done when an employer violates existing regulations or when working conditions are unacceptable. It will also be possible to determine which of the existing standards should be referred to when defining safe working conditions. Finally, given possible proposals and existing problems, one can suggest how to make the process of determining safe working conditions more consistent and fair.

Provincial and Federal Perspective

Nowadays, there is no single centralized system of laws regarding safe work in all areas in Canada. It also implies the temperature aspect, as each province has its own climatic and industrial characteristics. However, there is its own rules and regulations for safe working conditions in each region. In order to visualize this information, it is necessary to compare several provinces, and for this comparison, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan provinces were selected. As one may notice in Table 1, the Saskatchewan province has one of the most detailed lists of norms and regulations regarding the current issue.

Table 1. Standards and Guidelines for Safety Work in Selected Canadian Provinces.

Province	Standard/Guideline
British Columbia (Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 296/97; Amended to 320/2007)	Part 7 – Noise, vibration, radiation and temperature; Thermal Exposure, Sections 7.26 – 7.32 – Heat Exposure Should comply with ACGIH TLV®s, and requirements to clothing protection, treatment and removal, provision of water, controls, and stress assessment control plan.
Alberta (Occupational Health and Safety Act, Occupational Health and Safety Code)	Although the special requirements for working in heat or cold are absent, the law requires employers to provide health and safety of workers at their workplaces. Part 2 Code requires employers to assess and prevent hazards employees may be endangered in the workplace.
Saskatchewan (Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996, R.R.S., c. O-1, r. 1; Amended to Sask. Reg. 91/2007)	Section 70 – Thermal conditions 70 (1) Subject to subsection (3), in an indoor place of employment, an employer, contractor or owner shall provide and maintain thermal conditions, including air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity and air movement, that are appropriate to the nature of the work performed; provide reasonable thermal comfort for workers; and provide effective protection for the health and safety of workers. (2) In an indoor workplace where the thermal environment may pose a risk to the health or safety of workers, the employer, contractor, or owner must provide and maintain an appropriate and conveniently located thermal measurement device. 70. (3) In cases where it is practically impossible to control the temperature conditions, the employer, contractor or owner must observe and comply with the measures: the reasonable thermal comfort of workers; and the effective protection of the health and safety of workers. (4) Measures for the purposes set out in subsection (3) may include, but are not limited to, the following: frequent monitoring of thermal conditions; the provision of special or temporary equipment, including screens, shelters and temporary heating or cooling equipment; the provision of suitable clothing or personal protective equipment; the provision of hot or cold drinks; the use of acclimatization or other physiological procedures; (5) If an employee has to work in thermal conditions other than those associated with one’s normal duties, the employer or contractor must provide and require the employee to use any suitable clothing or other personal protective equipment that is necessary to protect the environment and worker’s health and safety.

Note. The data retrieved from “Best Practice – Working Safely in the Heat and Cold”, Work Safe Alberta, on February 9, 2022.

Talking about the federal level, Canada has no specific norms and regulations regarding heat stress or heat exposure, as it can be seen in Table 2. However, to compensate for the absence of the clearly listed laws, the Government usually refers to Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for heat stress as outlined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) (Government of Canada, 2022). Under these regulations, certain rules for safe working conditions are formed. Namely, it is necessary to ensure that the worker is dressed in suitable clothing and consumes enough water and salt. Moreover, there is a division into acclimatized and non-acclimatized employees. To do this, studies of the well-being of employees in certain conditions are carried out, and depending on the indicators, individual characteristics of workers are distinguished. For example, if an employee’s performance does not meet the norm, certain measures are taken. Besides, Humidex Heat Stress Response Plan was developed by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW).

Table 2. Rules and Regulations of Working Conditions in Canada.

Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)

The following points must be accomplished:

The workers must be in appropriate clothing depending on the thermal conditions;
Employers must be provided with adequate water and salt intake;
There should be individual working schedule depending on either the worker is acclimatized of non-acclimatized.

Humidex Heat Stress Response Plan by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)

The plan involves the following points:

The combination of the temperature and relative humidity must be calculated;
Under high temperatures work must be moderate;
Workers must be in appropriate clothing and in good physical and mental health.

Note. The data retrieved from “Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety”, Government of Canada, On February 9, 2022.

International Perspective

To effectively compare provincial, federal, and international regulations of safe working conditions, one should contrast several countries’ current norms. For this, the United States, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand’s laws related to appropriate employer and workers’ interaction were chosen. One identified that Australia, being a hot country, has relatively mild occupational heat stress risk. The highest degree is observed in military-related areas due to warm clothing and activities performed by participants (Jay & Brotherhood, 2016). As mentioned in Table 3, in New Zealand, the Health and Safety at Work Act by Work Safe NZ agency is responsible for administering most of the industry fields controlling its working conditions. In Germany, the Joint German Health and Safety Strategy (GDA) on the base of EU-OSHA was developed as a regulative method to control the workflow process (EASHW, 2022). Finally, in the United States, this issue is regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Table 3. Current Rules and Regulations of Working Conditions in Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Germany.

Country	Current Law/Regulation
Australia	There is no workplace exposure standard or limit for heat stress. However, there were developed several rules by Safe Work Australia body based on the Code of Practice.
New Zealand	The Health and Safety at Work Actby Work Safe NZ agency.
United States	Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Germany	The Joint German Health and Safety Strategy (GDA) on the base of EU-OSHA.

Note. The data retrieved from “European Agency for Safety and Health at Work”, on February 9, 2022.

The Executive Summary

One identified that nowadays, safe working conditions are regulated by several regulations, agencies, laws, and rules. It applies to provincial, federal, and international levels, and the absence of a single regulatory body might formulate some issues in this area. In places where there is no standards for heat stress, one developed rules and conditions which must be accomplished to meet the requirements. For example, in some areas, one must find out if the worker belongs to the groups of acclimatized individuals. Moreover, one must ensure that each employee is provided with water and salt intake.

Recommendations

In the absence of regulatory bodies, employers should refer to general rules listed under the hiring conditions. Regarding possible recommendations, one may propose developing a centralized regulatory system that would be based on united values, although differing depending on climate zone and country’s features. Moreover, these norms should consider each worker’s physical indicators, since people may work in high or low temperatures more or less effectively. Finally, it is necessary to implement international controlling body which would promote equal working conditions in multinational companies.

Conclusion

The reason why is there so little out there in terms of a set value is constituted by the desire of certain stakeholder groups (employers and clients) to make employees’ work as effective as possible. Due to this, in some cases, hirers ignore regulations, and it occurs at provincial, national, and international levels. The OSHA as a regulatory body is used most, since there is a European department (EU-OSHA).

References

Best Practice – Working Safely in the Heat and Cold. (2022). Work Safe Alberta. Web.

European Agency of Safety and Health at Work (EASHW). (2022). Web.

Government of Canada. (2022). Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Web.

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