LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The record summer heat led to more than a dozen workers being hospitalized in June and July in Clark County, according to the Nevada State Occupation Safety Hazard Administration.
8 News Now obtained data from OSHA through a public records request, which showed that at least 19 employees were hospitalized due to heat-related illnesses.
The agency is still working on collecting numbers for August.
In Nevada, there were 127 heat-related complaints filed to OSHA in June and 208 in July. The majority of them were against businesses in Clark County.
Throughout the summer, 8 News Now reported on employees who had to work in the heat and the ways they tried to keep cool.
“About every hour or so, I’ll try to do some stretches on here,” Kevin Roman route manager for Tahoe Springs Water said back on July 19.
Jason Cohn of Brooklyn’s Best Pizza also took safety precautions.
“This is like a little personal air conditioner I use. I got it on the internet. It just blows air up, blows air down. Keeps me cool,” Cohn said on July 5.
According to OSHA, two Las Vegas strip hotel employees were hospitalized in June due to the heat.
One was a bartender who suffered a heat stroke, and the other was an employee working on a pool deck who fainted.
Heat-related hospitalizations jumped to 17 in July, according to OSHA.
A landscaper on July 12 spent the night at Mountain View Hospital after he suffered from heat stress while installing plants.
On July 24, a construction worker was rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center after partial facial numbness. On that same day, a utility worker fell ill on the job and spent two days at UMC.
The next day on July 25, a package delivery employee went to the emergency room of Centennial Hills Hospital and was treated for dehydration, according to OSHA.
Dr. Ketan Patel at UMC recommends those working in the heat take extra precautions.
“You have to think of heat like stress. That’s what it is. It puts stress on our body. It puts stress on everything,” Dr. Patel said.
8 News Now isn’t identifying the business listed by OSHA with heat-related complaints, since most of the agency’s investigations remain active.
