OSHA Heat Safety Tool app review: view the heat index for your place of work and take precautions

Introduction

This app is designed to enable workers and other individuals who are exposed to sunlight for extended periods to obtain a heat index for their place of work in order to determine how much time they can safely spend out in the sun and receive detailed instructions on which precautions to take depending on the intensity of the sunlight.

I think this is a great idea for an app and I’m pleased to see it's provided free of charge by the U.S. Department of Labor. I’ve been having some issues with the user-interface which keeps crashing on me, but I’ve still managed to get all of the information I’m looking for and the content is definitely very valuable.

Turn Up the Heat

I’d like to start this review by addressing one glaring negative point which is that I’ve been experiencing some frustration with the user-interface. It keeps turning completely blank, forcing me to restart the app, and if I attempt to input any data the whole app crashes.

I haven’t noticed any other users commenting on this so I’m hoping it’s an isolated case, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

With the negative stuff out of the way, there are some great features in this app which are ideal for teaching members of staff, regardless of their level of experience, how best to deal with the heat during the scorching summer months, and how to spot various heat-related afflictions such as sun stroke and heat exhaustion by identifying symptoms.

Depending on the heat index which registers for your site, you’ll be presented with some great tips on the precautions you ought to take, and this app is also available in Spanish which is perfect for those of you who employ or work alongside a foreign workforce.

If you frequently work in a hot environment, outdoors or otherwise, OSHA Heat Safety Tool is definitely worth keeping handy on your iPhone because I know from personal experience how easy it can be to neglect your body during a busy day’s work, so with this tool you’ll remember to keep yourself adequately hydrated and protected from any ill-effects.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• View the heat index for your work site
• View suggested precautions based on the heat index
• View detailed symptom lists for heat-related conditions
• Available in Spanish

Cons

• Potential issues with the user-interface and stability overall

99 in the Shade

Despite my initial frustration with the instability of this app, which I really hope to see fixed in future updates if it proves to be a recurring issue for other users, I’m impressed by the quality of the content on here and I think the U.S. Department of Labor has done a pretty good job here.

In the context of OSHA Heat Safety Tool, the very best advice I can give is to always remain attentive to your thirst and hunger levels while you work, especially if you’re working in a hot environment, sweating a lot and under direct exposure to sunlight.

There are many serious health issues which can come from being irresponsible with hot and sunny work environments so practice a little due diligence, get this app, and you’ll have some great peace of mind.