Occupational Heat-Stress Illness Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations in Louisiana and Its Climate Divisions, 2010–2016

Details

• Personal Author:
  Reilly A
• Description:
  Working in a hot environment, whether indoors or outdoors, can be dangerous. Core body temperature must be maintained within a very narrow range (97.7-99.5 degrees F). A 2 degrees F increase in body temperature can affect mental functioning; a 5 degrees F increase can result in serious injury or death. Exposure to extreme heat can interfere with sweating, the body's primary cooling mechanism, putting workers at risk of heat-stress illness (HSI). Milder forms of HSI include heat rash, heat cramps and heat exhaustion, which often lead to worker irritability, low morale, absenteeism and shortcuts in procedures. The most serious form of HSI, heat stroke, is a medical emergency that can be fatal. HSI may be an underlying cause of other types of injuries such as heart attacks, falls and equipment accidents. Accidents leading to injuries can occur due to sweaty palms and fogged-up safety glasses; burns can occur from accidental contact with hot surfaces or steam. Occupations considered high-risk for HSI include firefighters, bakery and kitchen workers, laundry workers, landscapers, agricultural workers, construction workers, oil and gas workers, electrical utility (especially boiler room) workers, mail and package deliverers, and factory workers. These workers are exposed to occupational risk factors for HSI such as heavy physical activity (produces metabolic heat from physical exertion of energy), having to wear personal protective equipment (PPE; may interfere with the body's ability to sweat effectively), and/or hot environmental conditions (e.g., high temperature, humidity, radiant heat sources, and/or limited air movement). Additional personal factors that can increase the risk for HSI include obesity, advanced age (≥ 65 years), poor cardiovascular fitness, underlying health problems, existing burns (may damage or destroy sweat glands), use of certain medications, pregnancy, previous HSI, and lack of acclimatization (heat tolerance). Thousands of workers in Louisiana are at risk of HSI. Many industries and occupations are vulnerable to HSI, but the industries most affected by HSI due to outdoor heat are construction, agriculture, and oil and gas well operations. About 13.2% of Louisiana's workforce is employed in the construction, agriculture or mining (includes oil and gas) industries. Summers in Louisiana get hot and, especially in south Louisiana, humid. The daily maximum heat index (HImax) reached 95 degrees F or higher in all climate divisions for 58-73% of summer days (May-Sep), and reached 100 degrees F or higher for 35-56% of summer days from 2010-2016. Since 2010, the Occupational Health Program has been collecting HSI emergency department (ED) visit data as one of a suite of occupational health indicators submitted to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) every year. This analysis characterizes occupational HSI ED visits and inpatient hospitalizations in Louisiana by age group, sex and comorbidity for 2010-2016. Occupational HSI ED visit rates by climate division are also examined, and the relationship between the number of monthly occupational ED visits and average monthly maximum summer temperatures as well as temperature thresholds of 95 degrees F and 100 degrees F from 2010-2016 is examined. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Epidemiology Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Climatic Conditions Emergency Care Heat Exposure Heat Stress Hot Environments Medical Treatment Occupational Exposure Outdoor Workers Temperature Effects
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Newsletter
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5-11
• Volume:
  1
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066178
• Citation:
  LA Morbid Rep: Environ Occup Ed, 2019 Nov; 1(1):5-11
• Contact Point Address:
  Louisiana Morbidity Report, Section of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology, Louisiana Department of Health, P.O. Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Louisiana State Office of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20150720
• Source Full Name:
  Louisiana Morbidity Report: Environmental and Occupational Edition
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:64a01efc4dcbdcab833c7326bcd2f5c77d5c5f95ab8189b70bb4b7b0c3e841272e44d8af7ef9ad89f160fa2719d93cb5ea05cbd69055aea2e2b3d815c72917f2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212678/cdc_212678_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 929.55 KB ]