Acclimatization

The longer you do hard work in the heat the better your body becomes at keeping cool. If you are not used to working in the heat then you must take a week or two to get acclimatized or used to the heat. If you were ill or away from work for a week or so you can lose your acclimatization.

There are two ways to acclimatize:

1. If you are experienced on the job, limit your time in the hot environment to 50% of the shift on the first day and 80% on the second day.

• You can work a full shift the third day.
• If you are not experienced on the job (for example, a new worker) you should start off spending 20% of the time in the hot environment on the first day and increase your time by 20% each following day.

2. Instead of reducing the exposure times to the hot job, you can become acclimatized by reducing the physical demands of the job for a week or two.

Pay special attention to:

• New employees
• People just back from being sick
• Anyone absent for more than 2 weeks
• People who have just moved from a cooler climate
• Everyone during heat wave events

If you have health problems or are not in good physical condition, you may need longer periods of acclimatization. It generally takes from 7-10 days to become acclimated.