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As the weather warms up, prepare yourself to evaluate the heat risk for outdoor tasks. We often use a weather application on our phone to check the daily high and low temperature, but air temperature alone is not sufficient to evaluate heat risk. Heat index is a more appropriate measurement because it combines the effects of air temperature and humidity to indicate the level of discomfort felt by the average person.
One easy way to check the heat index is the Heat Safety Tool (https://www.osha.gov/heat/heat-app) phone app (see photo) developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The app calculates heat index at your specific site and displays the risk level to outdoor workers. It also provides in sight into protective measures for the given risk level. This mobile phone app is available for both Android and iPhone.
A similar, web-based tool is the Heat Risk website (https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/Applications/HeatRisk/) created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Heat Risk homepage has a color-coded map to indicate today’s heat risk (no risk to extreme risk) for each county in the U.S. You can also enter your zip code to get the daily and 5-day forecasted heat risk for your site plus corresponding actions to reduce heat-related health risks. Stay tuned for weekly posts on how beat the heat this summer!
plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu /beat-the-heat-tools-for-evaluating-heat-risk
