OSHA urges Taco Bell managers to strengthen heat safety plans

OSHA says almost half of heat-related worker deaths happen on a worker’s first day on the job or first day back after an extended absence, and more than 70 percent happen in the first week. For Taco Bell crews, that makes summer staffing, new-hire training and last-minute callouts a safety issue.

Commercial kitchen workers can develop heat exhaustion or heat stroke even when the weather outside does not look extreme. OSHA guidance calls for a written heat illness prevention plan, daily oversight and closer supervision of temporary workers, who may be more vulnerable when they are still learning the pace of a line, a drive-thru window or a closing shift.

New hires and employees returning after time away need a slower ramp-up, with supervisors trained to spot the early signs of trouble: headache, dizziness, weakness, confusion, slurred speech, fainting, seizures or heavy sweating followed by hot, dry skin. Those symptoms require immediate 911 response if the worker is not cooled down quickly.

Employers should make sure workers have enough rest, shade and fluids, and should determine whether total heat stress is too high during the day. In a Taco Bell restaurant, that can mean rotating a crew member off the line before the rush peaks, adding relief for a drive-thru position that never gets a breeze, or slowing the pace when understaffing leaves too few people to step away for water.

In Phoenix in 2023, one indoor-outdoor restaurant operated at 84 degrees inside and climbed to 95 to 100 degrees during busy periods, while eating-and-drinking-place employment ran 0.7 percent below the prior year and 1.5 percent below June. The U.S. Department of Labor calls heat the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, and OSHA's federal heat rule proposed on Aug. 30, 2024 would help protect about 36 million workers in indoor and outdoor jobs.