With temperatures hitting records highs, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Gent is urging caution during peak heat hours, especially for outdoor workers and visitors unaccustomed to hot climates.
Gent, speaking with the Cayman Compass, said though he had not seen a rise in heat-related complaints, he was concerned for employees in industries like construction.
“We should always be conscious about how much exposure we give our skin to the sun, and if we see unusual skin lesions getting them assessed very, very quickly,” he said, adding that especially pertained to construction workers.
Cayman has not experienced the extreme temperatures recorded in Europe, but he said he is monitoring the local situation.
However, Gent advised employers to assess the risk from the rising temperatures and take steps to ensure their workers’ safety.
“They need to be making sure that you’re wearing the right cover [so] that you’re not burned, you’re getting the right rest periods, and importantly, you’re getting plenty of water to drink. Employers and employees need to work together… to make sure that they are working in safe conditions,” he said.
‘Stay alert to heat exhaustion’
Dan DeFinis, of the Cayman Contractors Association, said the rising temperature is a concern members have noted and during the summer months steps are taken to ensure employee safety.
“It seems that this year it got hotter than normal earlier than normal in the year so we’ve definitely noticed it in the field,” he said.
DeFinis said contractors do adhere to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and that includes protecting employees from “environmental exposures”. Regular safety briefings are held to discuss issues including weather-related concerns.
“Companies are encouraged to keep following their health and safety guidelines and to make heat exhaustion a pretty high priority on that list of topics to be vigilant of,” he said.
He said usually this time of the year a lot of the safety discussions will shift towards hurricane and storm awareness, but it also includes a focus on heat exposure.
DeFinis said his key advice for local workers within the industry is to put safety first, “Especially this time of year you shouldn’t have anybody working alone, particularly at heights or in a trench or under a building or in any circumstance where they could potentially have a problem and faint, and nobody would find them,” though, he added, this guidance holds for all year round.
Gent is not only advising workers but also the general public to guard against heat exposure by staying hydrated and protecting against the sun.
“Try not to hit the peaks,” Gent said, adding people should take precautions “when you know the sun is very intense, you know the heat is very intense or the humidity is really up”.
Individuals with asthma or respiratory conditions, he said, will be affected.
In addition, he said, there is an increased risk of developing skin cancer.
“We should all remember that the downside of living in a beautiful place with such good sunshine is the risk of skin cancers and that’s not just for when it’s at its hottest,” Gent said, adding that visitors from temperate countries should guard against overexposure while out on the beach.
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