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Focus: Distribution/Materials Handling

Feature Article from Our Distribution and Materials Handling Subject Area - See All

From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine

- July 7, 2015 -

 

Supply Chain News: As Dog Days of Summer Approach, It's Baking Time Again in Many DCs


Still Very Little in the Way of Regulations, Unless Workers are Keeling Over; The Strange Saga of Amazon's Allentown DC in 2011

 

SCDigest Editorial Staff

 

As we enter the peak summer season in the Northern hemisphere, a quick look at issues related to overly hot temperatures in distribution centers.

The surprisingly reality is that OSHA really has no rules when it comes to temperatures in the DC, meaning the heat index can and does soar, with relatively little consequences for companies - usually.

But readers may remember back in 2011 when an Amazon distribution center in Allentown, PA caught some real heat (pun intended) for conditions inside its facility.

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It appears if DC workers are keeling over and being sent to the emergency room, you might have an issue, but if they are merely miserable your operation is not at much risk.
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The public hubbub started when Allentown's Morning Call published a story based on interviews it said it conducted with about 20 employees of the Allentown DC. According to the article, temperatures inside the DC regularly soared to 110 degrees or more in the summer of 2011, causing a number of employees to experience health problem.

It turns out that previously in June, a local emergency room doctor, after seeing a number at employees of the DC come in with health problems related to overheating, had called federal regulators to report an "unsafe environment" at the DC.

At the time, Amazon did not dispute the article's findings. In fact, in public statement, the company said it is spending $2.4 million dollars "urgently" installing - that's the word it used - new air conditioning systems at four US distribution centers, including the one in Allentown.

That followed an OSHA inspection stemming from the complaint. Around the same time, OSHA gave Amazon 10 days to make any modifications needed to increase worker safety and report on its findings.

A few days later, OSHA received a letter from Allen Forney, Amazon's site safety manager, citing "unusual, extremely high temperatures" causing the 15-20 cases of heat-related symptoms seen at the hospital.

Amazon's initial response to OSHA indicated it had purchased 2,000 cooling bandannas, which were given to every employee, with those in the dock/trailer yard also received cooling vests.

Amazon also changed some policies. Previously, workers faced demerits that could result in termination if they didn't provide doctor's notes saying they could not work in excessive heat. Amazon then changed that policy about the same time OSHA began asking questions, though precisely when the policy was modified is not clear. Under the new rules, when heat was excessive, workers could now go home early - unpaid - without jeopardizing their jobs.

A few weeks later, Amazon notified OSHA that the heat index in the warehouse was ranging between 108 and 112 degrees. And said it initiated voluntary time off, allowing employees to go home if they wished and telling them that ice cream was available.

A month after that, OSHA issued recommendations to Amazon about how it could improve its heat-stress management plan, including reducing temperatures and humidity and providing hourly breaks in a cool area, and closed its inspection.

It appears the new air conditioners for that DC and three others were acquired around the same time.

Of course, few distribution operations outside those involved in cold storage spend money to keep temperatures down, outside of ceiling fans. That means it can become very hot indeed, though rarely does it turn into an issue such was seen at the Amazon Allentown facility.

Then on an episode of CBS's Undercover Boss show in 2012, the issue went public again, with the CEO of Omaha's Oriental Trading Company - an on-line purveyor of toys and party supplies, working anonymously in his company's DC. That included time with one worker loading cartons into a truck trailer - in which the temperature rises to well over 100 degrees.

There is no relaxation of standards on those extra hot days, the worker tells the CEO, and to add insult to injury, he also says that in the past, DC management made free sports drinks available to associates, but that practice had basically been eliminated in a cost cutting move.

The good news: when he got back to his real world, the CEO reinstated the sports drink program. We wonder if it is still in operation now three years later. (See Undercover Boss Hits the Distribution Center for the Second Time, and Paints a Lousy Picture of Work in the Warehouse.)

But those examples aside, there are few companies much addressing the temperature issue, and also few if any regulations on temperatures (high or low). Most DC associates just have to manage the heat. A quick web search finds that there are similarly no regulations relative to temperatures in Canada, while the UK has a minimum at the lower end (cold) but nothing at the top.

(Distribution/Materials Handling Story Continues Below )

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OSHA Rules Very Loose

As noted above, OSHA has no hard rules on DC temperature, but does offer the following guidelines that employers should consider:


• Designate someone to oversee and enforce a heat illness prevention program.


• Provide an air-conditioned area close to the work and schedule frequent rest breaks. Implement more frequent breaks during the first week in high-heat conditions and establish how often and when breaks should be taken.


• Provide workers with plenty of cool drinking water in convenient, visible locations close to the work area. Remind workers to drink water before they become thirsty and about every 15 minutes. OSHA thinks one cup every 15 minutes is a good rule of thumb.


• Make work schedule changes to reduce extended heat exposure. Examples include scheduling more physically demanding work during cooler times of day and less physically demanding work during the warmer times; rotating workers or using split shifts; and stopping work if control methods are inadequate or unavailable when heat illness risk is very high.


• Encourage employees to wear or provide employees with light-colored and permeable clothing and consider whether other controls can be implemented.


• Monitor workers for symptoms of heat exposure and encourage them to report any they experience. Have workers partner with each other and watch for signs of heat-related illness in co-workers.


• Train workers and supervisors about hazards leading to heat stress and how to recognize it in themselves and others, how to prevent it and appropriate first-aid procedures.


• Implement an emergency action plan and know what to do if someone experiences symptoms of a heat-related illness.

 

That said, there is not much evidence of real scrutiny or penalties associated with companies not following these guidelines, and the Amazon investigation appears to be a rarity. While there are a few dozen workplace deaths each year in the US triggered by overheating, the vast preponderance of those appear to involve workers laboring in sun outdoors.


Interestingly, OSHA does have more specific recommendations (not rules) for office environments, for which it says it "recommends temperature control in the range of 68-76° F and humidity control in the range of 20%-60%."


Elsewhere, however, OSHA notes that "Employers are responsible for protecting workers from extreme heat. HEAT ILLNESS CAN BE DEADLY." That would seem to tie to the complaint the Allentown doctor made against the Amazon DC, and no doubt why the company responded so quickly.


So, it appears if DC workers are keeling over and being sent to the emergency room, you might have an issue, but if they are merely miserable your operation is not at much risk.


California Prescribes Somewhat More Specific Rules

In the absence of real teeth in any federal rules relative to temperatures, some states are said to be looking at the issue in manufacturing and distribution.


Just recently, California's OSHA issued new rules relative to temperatures that went into effect May 1. Though these new regulations appear more targeted to workers laboring outdoors, they may impact distributionas well.

The California amendments lower the threshold temperature to provide shaded areas to 80° F (from 85° F), increase the amount of shade that must be available to cover every worker on a rest break, require the employer to establish a system for monitoring workers for symptoms of heat illness and mandate new emergency response procedures.

The changes also direct employers to provide water that is "fresh, pure, and suitably coolʼ" and located as close as possible to the job site.

So, while for now it's business as usual, with little real rules relative to baking DC temperatures as long as associates aren't dropping to the ground. However, we suspect this issue is one that will surface one of these years in a more restrictive ways. For us, while we wouldn't be fond of freezer work, regular refrigerated DCs may be just fine in the summer months.

 

Any reaction to our interview with John Hill? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button (email) or section (web form) below.

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