O-370 Medical Surveillance and Heat Related Illness Prevention: Restrospective Observational Study on Heat Related Illness Frequency in Texas Outdoor Municipal Workers

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Objective To describe heat-related illness (HRI) frequency and cost outcomes for a heat illness prevention program (HIPP) that included the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s heat exposure guidelines for training, acclimatization, and medical surveillance, and then later modified without medical surveillance for outdoor workers employed by a Central Texas municipality. Methods HRI frequency and workers’ compensation (WC) cost were assessed retrospectively in a cohort of 329 municipal outdoor workers from 2011-2019. The HIPP years (2011-2017) included training, acclimatization, and medical surveillance that screened workers for factors that can increase risk for HRI. In 2018-2019, a modified heat illness prevention program (mHIPP) was implemented that included training and acclimatization, but without medical surveillance. The SARS- CoV-2 pandemic prevented adding cohort data after 2019. Results Out of a total of 329 workers, the rate of reported HRIs during the HIPP years (2011-2017) was 11.7 per 1,000 workers, with a 1.01 per 1,000 workers in the last three-year subset, 2015-2017. In the mHIPP years the rate was 7.6 per 1,000 workers. The median cost per HRI was $208 during the HIPP years and $1,078 during mHIPP years (p = 0.45). Discussion The HRI rate decreased over the HIPP years with cohort medical surveillance. The HRI rate and median cost per injury increased in the mHIPP years without medical surveillance. Significance impacted by the small number of HRI and short duration of observed MHIPP years. Conclusion Medical surveillance may be an important component in heat illness prevention programs to lower workforce heat related illnesses