A study of work-related heat stress by the Canada-based Institute for Work & Health finds that heat strokes, sunstrokes, and other heat illnesses spike disproportionately affect those on the job for less than two months. So take extra care to look for signs of heat illness with new employees doing manual labor.
The more inexperienced they are on the job, the more likely they are to need time off work to recover from heat stroke, sunstroke, fainting, and other forms of heat illnesses. Acclimation to hot environments is necessary to allow individuals’ bodies to adapt to high heat.
“These heightened risks are seen even after accounting for the fact that this group of workers—young, manual laborers new to the job—are already at greater risk of work injury,” says Melanie Fortune, a research associate at IWH and the lead researcher of the study on heat stress.
Read More at the Institute for Work & Health