Heat-Related Illness — Supervisor Responsibilities

Talking points

1. Supervisors are the first line of defense against heat illness. Your job is to monitor conditions, watch your crew, and make the call to modify work before someone goes down.
2. Establish and enforce a work/rest schedule based on heat conditions — not project deadlines. No schedule is worth a fatality.
3. Watch for early signs: someone slowing down, stumbling, becoming confused, or stopping sweating. Workers in early heat illness often resist stopping because they do not want to appear weak — override that.
4. Ensure water is cold, plentiful, and within easy reach of the work area. If workers have to walk far to get water, they will not drink enough. Bring the water to them.
5. Have an emergency plan specific to heat illness: know who calls 911, who starts cooling, where the nearest shaded area is, and how medical services will access the site.

Ask the crew

Supervisors — what is your heat illness action plan for today, and have you communicated it to the crew?

Standards this talk is built on

• Section 5(a)(1)

A toolbox talk is a short safety briefing. It supports the training a standard requires; it does not replace it.

Sign-in sheet

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