-Farm News photo by Doug Clough
Cody Volkmann is an occupational safety specialist with the College of Engineering and Environmental Health and Safety Department at ISU. Volkmann spoke to dairy producers about heat mitigation for their employees during a webinar on June 19.

AMES — Heat can kill, so it’s important that employers know the risks and take steps to ensure their workers are safe during the hot Iowa summers.

Cody Volkmann, a certified safety professional with Iowa State University, spoke via webinar to dairy producers on June 19 regarding heat mitigation for employees.

While some tips were dairy specific, many of his recommendations were relevant to any farmer with employees working in the heat of summer.

“Oftentimes we hear, ‘It’s hot outside. We live in Iowa. There’s nothing we can do,'” said Volkmann. “However, there are ways we can mitigate heat stress if we just can understand the factors of heat stress and create a plan to deal with those factors. We need to focus on what we can do as employers, managers, and supervisors to reduce the heat stress that our employees are experiencing.”

The basis of Volkmann’s presentation was that heat kills people.

“Last year in the United States, 2,300 people died from extreme heat,” said Volkmann. “This is more than the people who have died from tornadoes, hurricanes, or floods.”

The Occupational, Safety, and Health Administration is in the final stages of creating a heat stress standard which will put requirements in place for employers to implement.

“The two big issues coming up — especially since we’ve already had our first heat wave — are heat exhaustion and heatstroke,” said Volkmann. “When a person’s core temperature starts to elevate — above 104 degrees Fahrenheit — that’s when we start to see the onset of heat stroke. Classic heatstroke is due to the environment; exertional heatstroke happens in work environments where there is hard manual labor in addition to environmental heat. Bodies increase in heart rate and increase in metabolic heat. The worker cannot quickly or adequately cool down.”

Currently, heat is measured with the heat index, but a new measurement is on the horizon.

“We still rely on the heat index, which is taken in the shade and only considers ambient temperature and humidity,” said Volkmann. “However, there is also the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), a new heat indicator taken in full sun to measure heat stress, which includes additional factors such as the strength of the sun and wind speed.”

Volkmann said that WBGT will become more prevalent in the future.

The key to employee health is to create an environment where heat can dissipate from employees as efficiently as possible.

“There are factors that can impede dissipation,” said Volkmann. “Thick and heavy clothing will insulate your body more, not allowing for heat to dissipate as quickly. The higher the temperature and humidity, the more difficult it is to cool off. If a person is not properly hydrated, they’re not going to be able to properly sweat and dehydration starts.”

Volkmann noted that everyone’s health status is different. Even hereditary factors and medications can affect a person’s ability to cool off.

Mitigation of heat stress is key.

“If you can find a way to reduce the physical demand of work, you can reduce the body heat generated from working,” said Volkmann. “Using a tractor and feeder wagon to feed cattle instead of carrying hay or buckets of shell corn — using mechanical equipment when possible — can greatly reduce workload. Anything that can be done during a high-heat environment to minimize the possibility of heat stress will help.

“There are also work-rest schedules which aren’t always possible in a dairy workload, but if there is ample staffing, there may be a way to create more frequent rest during extreme periods of heat. In the end, we’re trying to reduce the intensity of the work during high heat index or WBGT periods. Can the parlor be designed so employees get the same amount of work done but with less exertion?”

Regarding dairy parlors, said Volkmann, many producers already have heat mitigation practices in place for their cattle.

“Some producers have misting units, fans, and both are good for employees as well,” said Volkmann. “Are there ways to adapt those strategies to work for employees? Airflow is incredibly important as is shade; if the work isn’t indoors to provide shade, can you provide a tent? Cold water misters, pumped from a well, help to mitigate heat as well. The caveat is that we don’t want it to be too humid, so we need to be careful about using misting to mitigate heat.”

Volkmann also suggested that manual labor be done before the heat of the day begins and that working from an air-conditioned cab tractor can offer welcome relief.

“Peak heat is often between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.,” said Volkmann. “Completing work early in the morning or late in the evening sometimes makes a lot more sense.”

Volkmann said that not every solution is going to work for every dairy parlor’s unique business model, design, and configuration.

Employers can also do a lot for their employees by insisting that they are properly hydrated, so they can sweat, releasing heat; having cool, drinkable water available is key.

“Thin, light weight, moisture wicking clothing helps pull the sweat from the employee’s skin and spreads out the dissipation of heat, cooling a larger portion of the body,” said Volkmann. “Light, long-sleeved shirts and broad-brimmed hats also help to keep the solar-load from the skin. Stay away from baggy clothing to prevent machinery accidents. Sunscreen is also paramount to cutting down UV rays.”

Volkmann finished by saying that the industry has seen personal protective equipment (PPE) emerge to reduce heat stress, including chilling towels soaked with water to put around the neck and head.

Volkmann is an occupational safety specialist with the College of Engineering and Environmental Health and Safety Department at ISU. He grew up on a family farm in northwest Iowa and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University in Agriculture Systems Technology and Industrial Systems Technology and a Master of Business Administration.