Extreme Heat Volunteer Workday Safety Workbook and Emergency Plan

New World Survival Community Garden Guide
Revision: September 6, 2026

This standalone workbook helps a garden decide whether to proceed, modify, relocate or cancel volunteer work during hot conditions. It does not replace emergency medical care, local weather alerts, school/youth policies or applicable employment-safety requirements.

Emergency rule: Confusion, altered mental status, slurred speech, seizure, loss of consciousness or collapse after heat exposure can indicate heat stroke. Call 911, move the person to a cooler area, remove excess outer clothing, begin rapid cooling and stay with the person until emergency help arrives.

1. Workday identity

Garden:

Date:

Planned start/end:

Expected volunteers:

Heat-safety leader: ____________________________

Backup leader: ____________________________

Authority statement: The heat-safety leader may shorten, modify, relocate or cancel work without waiting for a committee vote when conditions cannot be controlled safely.

2. Emergency location and access

Street address / precise location:

Gate, road or access instruction for EMS:

Person who calls 911:

Person who meets responders:

First-aid supplies located at:

Best cooling location:

3. Forecast and heat tools

Check	Finding	Time checked
Local NWS forecast
Heat Advisory / Watch / Warning
WBGT if available/useful
Heat Index if useful
HeatRisk as supplementary signal
On-site sun, wind, reflected heat

Do not use air temperature alone. Heat Index assumes shade/light wind. WBGT includes solar radiation and is particularly useful for active outdoor populations. HeatRisk is a supplemental NWS planning product and is currently described as experimental.

4. Initial decision

□ HEALTHY: proceed with normal heat controls

□ WATCH: shorten, cool, increase breaks, assign buddies, reduce heavy work

□ CORRECT: substantially modify, reschedule strenuous work, relocate tasks, shorten event

□ STOP: cancel/relocate discretionary outdoor work

Reason:

5. Task heat-load map

Task	Low / moderate / high exertion	Sun / shade	Modify, rotate, move or postpone?

Heavy tasks removed from today's plan:

Lower-exertion alternatives:

6. New, returning and occasional volunteers

NIOSH recommends gradual heat exposure over days for acclimatization. One-time volunteers may not be acclimatized. The garden should not try to manufacture acclimatization in one workday.

□ New/occasional volunteers receive shorter or lighter heat exposure.

□ Returning volunteers after extended time away are treated conservatively.

□ Nobody is asked to disclose private medical information to justify lighter work or an early exit.

□ Leader monitors new/returning volunteers closely.

Special task changes today:

7. Water, rest and cooling capacity

Control	Ready?	Location / amount / notes
Cool potable drinking water near work	□ Yes □ No
Individual cups / personal bottles	□ Yes □ No
Deep shade or cooled recovery area	□ Yes □ No
Seating for recovery	□ Yes □ No
Planned break/check times	□ Yes □ No
Electrolyte option for prolonged heavy sweating if appropriate	□ Yes □ No / N.A.

NIOSH occupational planning guidance suggests about 8 oz of water every 15 to 20 minutes for moderate activity lasting less than two hours and electrolyte-containing beverages when sweating continues for several hours. This is not a personal medical prescription.

8. Buddy and check-in plan

Volunteer / group	Buddy / lead	Task	Check time

9. Opening heat briefing

□ Where drinking water is located

□ Where the cooling/recovery area is located

□ Planned break/check times

□ Everyone may stop early or request lighter work

□ Report headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, unusual irritability, confusion or other symptoms immediately

□ Buddy system explained

□ Emergency address/access route stated aloud

□ Heat-safety leader identified

10. Symptom response card

Pattern	Action
Possible heat exhaustion: headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, heavy sweating	Stop work. Move to cooling. Stay with the person. Cool them. Offer small amounts of cool water if alert and able to drink. Seek medical evaluation and escalate if symptoms worsen or fail to improve.
Possible heat stroke: confusion, altered mental status, slurred speech, seizure, loss of consciousness, collapse	Call 911 now. Move to cooling, remove excess outer clothing, cool rapidly and continuously, and stay with the person.
Cannot safely swallow, repeated vomiting, worsening condition or uncertain consciousness	Do not force fluids. Call emergency services or follow urgent medical guidance.

11. Stop-condition check

□ Extreme Heat Warning during planned discretionary outdoor work

□ No reliable potable drinking water

□ No usable cooling/recovery location for the crew

□ No workable emergency communication/access

□ Heat load cannot be controlled by changing time, task, duration, crew or recovery

□ Participant develops serious heat illness signs

□ Required PPE would need to be removed to continue

If any checked condition cannot be corrected, disposition: □ STOP □ RELOCATE □ RESCHEDULE

12. Day-of condition log

Time	Weather/heat signal	Workload/crew observation	Action taken

13. Incident or near-miss record

Date/time:

What was observed:

Task and conditions:

Immediate response:

Was EMS/medical evaluation involved?

Which control failed or was insufficient?

What changes before the next similar workday?

Keep incident records according to the host organization's privacy, insurance, school, employment and record-retention requirements. Do not place unnecessary medical details in a general volunteer log.

14. End-of-workday review

□ Nobody remained alone with unresolved symptoms

□ Water/cooling capacity was adequate for the actual crew

□ Scheduled breaks/checks occurred

□ Heavy tasks were modified when conditions worsened

□ Any near miss was recorded

□ Any required host/insurance/school notification was completed

What worked:

What must change:

15. Program-quality review

At the end of the hot season, review:

□ Number of workdays modified/rescheduled/cancelled for heat

□ Number of heat-related symptoms, incidents or near misses

□ Whether new/returning volunteers were assigned conservatively

□ Whether cooling capacity matched crew size

□ Whether any volunteer felt pressure to skip breaks or continue while unwell

□ Whether the emergency address/access procedure actually works

□ Whether heat-safety responsibility has a trained backup

16. Source and revision note

Prepared from current OSHA heat-safety guidance, NIOSH/CDC heat-stress recommendations and National Weather Service heat tools/alerts. OSHA occupational guidance is used as a safety framework and is not a statement that every community-garden volunteer is a covered employee. As of September 6, 2026, OSHA's federal Heat Injury and Illness Prevention standard remains proposed rather than final. Recheck current federal, state, host, school and local requirements before institutional use.

Key sources: OSHA Heat Exposure, OSHA Water Rest Shade, OSHA Protecting New Workers, NIOSH Workplace Recommendations, NIOSH Acclimatization, NIOSH Heat-Related Illnesses, NWS Heat Forecast Tools, NWS Understanding Heat Alerts.