C.O.’s outdoor workers taking extra precautions to stay cool amid hot spell, under new state rules

(Update: Adding video, comments from local landscapers, OSHA)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As most High Desert residents know - and feel - this week's forecast is for more temperatures reaching the triple digits across Central Oregon, before they cool down. But that doesn't mean workers who must spend much or all of their time outdoors can stop doing their jobs.

Redmond saw a record high temperature Tuesday of 105 degrees, breaking the old August 15th record of 103, set in 2020, according to the National Weather Service. Several other cities around Oregon and Washington have seen temperature records fall the past couple of days.

According to new rules adopted by Oregon Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), if the heat index is 80 degrees or higher, employers are required to provide access to shade, water, and training to prevent heat illness.

The agency adopted the new rules to protect agricultural and other workers from excessive heat, as well as wildfire smoke. Workers must get access to shade, cool water, breaks and training. The agency said the rules are the most protective of their kind in the country.

"Summer in particular poses the potential for heat hazards. And that's why we have these steps in place," Aaron Corvin, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, said Tuesday.

"Employers are obligated to provide those to to implement those steps to help protect their employees from the dangers of heat." he said.

KGW aired this report when the rules took effect last year.

Davis Smith, owner of Bend landscaping company 'The Grounds Guys,' has been keeping his workers cool this week.

"These guys wear bandanas, and so we soak them in cold water," he said. "They wear them on their heads and around their necks, which keeps them cool throughout the day, too."

Fire risk is also a danger with these hot temperatures, but Smith says his crew is prepared. "We have extinguishers in our trucks, but we don't do a lot of the work that is going to cause a spark if you're doing brush work. We have string trimmers, so that doesn't prevent sparks."

He's taking extra precautions this week by starting his crews at 6 in the morning, to be done by 1 p.m.