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Some Like it Hot
Arizona Workers Are Old Pros at Sweating In the Southwest
By Aileen Cho, with Scott Blair, Lucy Bodilly and Jim Parsons
Contractors in the Desert Southwest demonstrate that water, common sense and training keep their crews from overheating as temperatures rise.
Randy Mullins remembers all too well what it was like suffering heat exhaustion eight years ago. It was a windless day in Phoenix, and he’d just eaten lunch. "It just sneaks right up on you,” he recalls. “It hurts. I was cramped up. I [vomited] and passed out. It was the worst feeling I’d ever had.” He spent the night in a hospital with an IV.
Mullins, now a foreman with Kiewit Western Co., Phoenix, keeps a close eye on the crews working on a $200 million Interstate 10 widening project in Tucson. Temperatures there hit 107°F in the summer, but workers say it’s far more pleasant than the higher average temperature in Phoenix.
Mullins scrutinizes the crews during toolbox safety meetings, looking for red eyes, signs of exhaustion or hangover. He also keeps an eye on new workers, identified by their green hardhats. During the shift, “I’ll make these guys stop for water breaks,” he says.
Common sense, acclimation and a strong heat-safety ethic were evident on five project sites visited in the Phoenix and Tucson area. “Experience counts,” says Arizona Dept. of Transportation spokesman Doug Nintzel. “ADOT personnel and contractors are used to the heat.”
Summer customs include switching paving to nighttime shifts once daytime temperatures reach 100°. “Some contractors will batch concrete with ice or chilled water to control the curing process,” Nintzel says. Retrofitting highways with 1-in. overlays of temperature-sensitive rubberized asphalt is usually avoided altogether during the hottest months.
Arizona average temperatures have increased by 2.2° between 2003-2007, compared to a global average of 1°, according to a report released in March by the National Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported during 1992-2006 there were 423 heat-related deaths of U.S. workers, with 148 in the construction industry. At .11 deaths per 100,000 workers, that is more than five times higher than the rate for all workers combined.
An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, run by Silver Spring, Md.-based CPWR-Center for Construction Research and Training, found 16 construction workers died due to extreme heat out of 1,280 total deaths in 2006. There also were 730 cases of lost-time illness/injury as a result of “exposure to environmental heat.” Mary Watters, spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization, says milder cases of heat exhaustion are probably under-reported.
Moonlighting
At the site of construction of a new $89 million, 24 million-gal-per-day water treatment plant in Gilbert, Ariz., “we start as early as 5 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m.,” says Thomas Maher, senior project superintendent with general contractor Sundt Construction Inc. of Tempe.
Project manager Clint Sundt says the hot weather affects various project elements. “We have stainless steel or PVC pipes. You can’t place those on a hot day,” he says. “You have to adjust the concrete admixes. Applications of coatings are affected. You have bubbling epoxy in the heat.” To accommodate, crews do as much mixing, placing and applying as possible at night.
But daytime work is inevitable. For instance, roofing cannot be done at night due to its inherent dangers. But roofers are most exposed to the sun while working on a hot surface radiating heat.
The goal is to balance between keeping pace with the schedule and not pushing workers beyond what’s safe, says Maher. “My focus is to work smart, not just fast,” he says. “Safety has got to be prioritized over productivity. It means nothing to meet the schedule if the safety record is not good.”
Although Southwestern construction workers are used to the heat, safety training is meant to prevent complacency. Frequent breaks in the shade or an air-conditioned vehicle are encouraged. “We communicate the dangers of heat exhaustion every meeting,” says Josh Welp, Sundt safety representative. “Stay hydrated. If you’re thirsty, you waited too long.”
Every shift starts off with a meeting to discuss the plans for the day. Staying hydrated is a key topic. “There is the issue of drinking [beer] after shifts in the heat-we talk about that,” says Brian Murphy, Sundt safety director, noting that drinking alcohol speeds dehydration.
Standing in a shed fitted with a huge fan, Murphy pointed outside at a cluster of workers laying rebar. “A lot of these guys look like Lawrence of Arabia,” Murphy says, explaining that the long black cloths flowing from beneath hardhats keep moisture close to skin, as do long sleeves and two layers of shirts.
Water trucks drive about the 40-acre site, occasionally spreading water to tamp down the dust. A Spanish-speaking roofer, like other workers, keeps a gallon jug of water nearby. Water and Gatorade are key-but not salt tablets, says Murphy. “A lot of them weren’t buffered, so guys got sick,” he says.
Standing on the roof of a 30-ft deep, 140-ft-wide, 280-ft-long reservoir under construction, Sundt concrete superintendent Shawn Werner noted that roof slabs recently were poured at 1 a.m. He pointed toward the interior of the structure where, surrounded by earth, workers are installing fiber-reinforced wall beams to concrete columns. “When concrete hydrates, it heats up,” he says. Despite fans, he estimates it gets as hot as 140° within the enclosed structure. “It’s as close to Purgatory as you can get,” he says.
Heat Symptoms
In Glendale, Sundt is working an $18 million job to install 10,500 ft of storm drain varying in diameter from 24 in. to 90 in. Crews working in a 20-ft-deep trench endure triple-digit temperatures, excavating 200 cu yds of material every 30 ft and laying up to 96 ft of pipe per day. As an excavator scooped up earth behind him, Hedy Bagherpour, Sundt area manager, recalled a time when cabs did not have air conditioning. He keeps an eye on new hires, especially student interns. Years ago he saw a worker faint on a dam job. “We called 911 and put cool rags on his body,” he says. “It took him a couple of hours to come out of it.”
Those symptoms are typical of “heat syncope,” says Paul Sprecco, Sundt’s San Diego-based area safety manager. “Blood vessels in the skin and in the lower part of the body dilate, which may cause blood to pool there,” says. That may cause fainting.
Other signs of heat exhaustion include flushed, clammy or red skin, heavy sweating, headache or dizziness and fatigue. Sundt’s Welp says a handful of these incidents occurred during summer construction of Phoenix’s $1 billion, 20-mile Phoenix light rail project.
“None of them were serious because the symptoms were caught early,” says Hillary Foose, a spokesperson for owner METRO. “The heat in the valley is extreme. We have to be diligent in monitoring for cues of heat-related incidents.” She says new safety vests are being used with mesh to allow more airflow.
Heat stroke is life-threatening, requiring immediate medical attention. Signs include lack of sweating, confusion, irrational behavior, unconsciousness, convulsions, hot, dry skin and body temperature reaching 105.8°. “If your co-worker isn’t sweating, it’s time to intervene,” says CPWR’s Watters. In all cases, the first step is to have the victim lie down in a cool area, soak the clothes, bathe the skin in cool water and apply ice packs.
Federal guidance on heat stress and related illnesses comes largely through publications and references distributed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A new resource is the Heat Illness e-tool developed by the California Dept. of Occupational Safety. California pioneered mandatory heat-related standards for employers of outdoor occupations after a dozen heat-related deaths in 2005.
The e-tool identifies high-risk situations, extra measures for “heat wave” conditions, prevention “best practices” and emergency response procedures. It offers suggestions for implementing workplace heat-stress training and awareness programs, and downloadable bilingual posters, pamphlets and videos.
But none of the information will help if it is not read. “There’s still the issue of getting [information] not only to workers, but to employers,” says Chad Dowell, industrial hygienist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety.
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