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NIOSH Safety and Health Topic:Hazards to Outdoor Workers |
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Photographs courtesy of Keith Weller, USDA/ARS (1 & 2), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (3).
OverviewSummer Hazards for Workers – now on the NIOSH Science Blog. Read it and share your comments...
Outdoor workers are exposed to many types of hazards that depend on their type of work, geographic region, season, and duration of time they are outside. Industry sectors with outdoor workers include the agriculture, forestry, fishing, construction, mining, transportation, warehousing, utilities, and service sectors. Outdoor workers include farmers, foresters, landscapers, groundskeepers, gardeners, painters, roofers, pavers, construction workers, laborers, mechanics, and any other worker who spends time outside. Employers should train outdoor workers about their workplace hazards, including hazard identification and recommendations for preventing and controlling their exposures. Physical hazards to outdoor workers may include extreme heat, extreme cold, noise, lightning, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Extreme heat conditions can cause heat stroke, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat rash, and other problems. Extreme cold conditions can cause hypothermia, frostbite, and other problems. Too much noise exposure may cause a temporary change in hearing or a temporary ringing in workers' ears (tinnitus). Repeated exposures to loud noise can lead to permanent, incurable hearing loss or tinnitus. Lightning kills about 80 people in the United States each year and injures hundreds. Among construction workers, laborers, machine operators, engineers, roofers, and pipefitters have been struck by lightning most often on the job. UV radiation can cause problems such as sunburn and skin cancer. Biological hazards include vector-borne diseases, venomous wildlife and insects, and poisonous plants. Vector-borne diseases may be spread to workers by insects, such as mosquitoes, or ticks. When a mosquito or tick bites a worker, it may transfer a disease-causing agent, such as a parasite, bacterium, or virus. Mosquito-borne diseases include West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, western equine encephalitis, and LaCrosse encephalitis. Tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, southern tick-associated rash illness, tularemia, tick-borne relapsing fever, anaplasmosis, Colorado tick fever, Powassan encephalitis, and Q fever. Outdoor workers in the United States may be exposed to many types of venomous wildlife and insects. Venomous snakes, spiders, scorpions, and stinging insects can be found throughout various geographic regions. They are especially dangerous to workers who have allergies to the animal. Anaphylactic shock is the body’s severe allergic reaction to a bite or sting and requires immediate emergency care. Thousands of people are stung each year, and as many as 40–50 people in the United States die each year from severe allergic reactions. Venomous U.S. snakes include rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths/water moccasins, and coral snakes. Stinging insects include bees, wasps, hornets, and fire ants. Venomous spiders include black widows, brown recluse spiders, and hobo spiders. Poisonous plants found in the United States include poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. These plants can cause allergic reactions if the leaves or stalks are damaged and come in contact with workers’ skin. These plants can also be dangerous if they are burned and their toxins are inhaled by workers. Nearly one-third of forestry workers and firefighters who battle forest fires in California, Oregon, and Washington develop rashes or lung irritations from contact with poison oak, which is the most common poisonous plant in those states. Outdoor workers may encounter other hazards in addition to the physical and biological hazards described here. They may be exposed to pesticides or other chemical hazards, traumatic injury hazards, or other safety and health hazards depending on their specific job and tasks. Employers should train outdoor workers about their workplace hazards, including hazard identification and recommendations for preventing and controlling their exposures. Physical HazardsExtreme HeatOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Topics: Heat Stress OSHA Sawmills eTool: Heat Stresses OSHA Quick Card: Heat Stress OSHA Fact Sheet: Protecting Workers From Effects of Heat OSHA Fact Sheet: Working Outdoors in Warm Climates Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emergency Preparedness and Response: Frequently Asked Questions About Extreme Heat CDC Extreme Heat: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety Texas A&M University (TAMU) – Texas Cooperative Extension: Coping With Hot Work Environments Extreme ColdOSHA Offers Tips to Protect Workers in Cold Environments OSHA Sawmill eTool: Cold Stresses CDC Extreme Cold: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety National Ag Safety Database (NASD): Princeton University Outdoor Action Guide to Hypothermia and Cold Weather Injuries Ohio State University Extension: Cold Weather Exposure Ultraviolet RadiationOSHA Sawmill eTool: UV Radiation OSHA Protecting Yourself In the Sun CDC Traveler’s Health: Yellow Book – Non-Infectious Risks During Travel: Sunburn CDC Skin Cancer: Questions and Answers Ohio State University Extension Training Module: Sun Exposure New Mexico State University – Cooperative Extension Service: Skin Cancer NoiseNIOSH Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention eLCOSH Hazard Alert: Construction Noise LightningeLCOSH Hazard Alert: Lightning Protection Biological HazardsVector-borne DiseasesMosquito-borne DiseasesRecommendations for Protecting Outdoor Workers from West Nile Virus Exposure OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin: West Nile Virus OSHA Quick Card: West Nile Virus TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Mosquitoes and the Diseases They Transmit University of Florida – IFAS Extension: Mosquito Information Website Utah State University (USU) Extension: West Nile Virus in Utah Tick-borne DiseasesOSHA Sawmill eTool: Tick-borne Illnesses OSHA Lyme Disease Alert Fact Sheet OSHA Logging eTool: Tick-borne Disease OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin: Potential for Occupational Exposure to Lyme Disease External link: http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib021103.html TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Tick Control Venomous Wildlife and InsectsOSHA Quick Card: Rodents, Snakes, and Insects TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Venomous Terrestrial Animals of Texas SnakesOSHA Fact Sheet: Cottonmouth Snakes (Water Moccasin) CDC Snakes: Pictorial Key to Venomous Species in the U.S. CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response: How to Prevent or Respond to a Snake Bite Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – For Goodness Snakes! Treating and Preventing Venomous Bites External link: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/995_snakes.html Florida Museum of Natural History’s Guide to Florida’s Venomous Snakes North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension: Avoiding Snake Bites TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Snakes and Their Control Stinging InsectsOSHA Fact Sheet: Fire Ants CDC Stinging Hymenoptera: Pictorial Key to Some Common U.S. Families NASD: First Aid for Bee and Insect Stings NASD: The Two-Step Method of Fire Ant Control U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service: Areawide Fire Ant Suppression External link: http://fireant.ifas.ufl.edu/Imported.htm University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension – NebGuide: Stinging Wasps and Bees TAMU: Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Managing Imported Fire Ants in Urban Areas TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Honey Bees In and Around Buildings Colorado State University Extension: Nuisance Wasps and Bees USU Extension: Yellowjackets, Hornets, and Paper Wasps SpidersOSHA Fact Sheet: Black Widow Spider OSHA Fact Sheet: Brown Recluse Spider CDC Spiders: Key to Some Important U.S. Species University of California – Integrated Pest Management Program: Brown Recluse and Other Recluse Spiders External link: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet: Black Widow Spider Washington State University – How to Identify (or Misidentify) the Hobo Spider USU Extension Fact Sheet: Hobo Spiders TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Spiders ScorpionsCDC Scorpions: Pictorial Key to Some Common U.S. Species University of Arizona Cooperative Extension – Urban Integrated Pest Management: Scorpions TAMU – Texas Cooperative Extension: Scorpions USU Extension Fact Sheet: Scorpions Poisonous PlantsOSHA Sawmills eTool: Poisonous Plants National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health – Medline Plus: Poison Ivy-Oak-Sumac Rash External link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000027.htm FDA: Outsmarting Poison Ivy and Its Cousins American Academy of Dermatology: Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac The Poison Ivy Site Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center Related NIOSH Safety and Health Topics
Page last modified: July 21, 2008
Page last reviewed: February 29, 2008 Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) |
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