As summer approaches and outdoor temperatures begin to rise, OSHA is once again informing the public about its Heat Safety Tool app to help protect workers from heat illness, which is available on iOS and Android devices in both English and Spanish. OSHA has updated the version for iPhones, which now offers full screen color alerts for all heat conditions, improved navigation and accessibility options, and compatibility upgrades. The heat app provides heat illness prevention guidance specific to the user's current outdoor workplace conditions using weather data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The new version provides the daily maximum heat index intended to help prepare for extreme heat and plan work schedules accordingly. More than 187,000 users have downloaded this life-saving app.
OSHA's heat app was updated in-house and is fully open source, so app developers from across the country can access the code and contribute to or improve the app themselves. The heat app's code is available online.
As part of its Heat Illness Prevention Campaign, OSHA is also joining the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention to promote "Don't Fry Day" on May 22. "Don’t Fry Day" is an annual event — taking place on the Friday before Memorial Day — that seeks assistance from the media to help educate the public about the danger of extreme heat and ultraviolet radiation.
