October 22, 2026
This week’s photo is courtesy of- Roscoe Moss Company- Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Safety Focus
Part 4 of 4: Heat and Cold Stress
We have covered the stakes, the signs, and the controls. Today is about a plan the crew follows without having to think about it.
What the rules say. OSHA has no specific federal standard for heat or for cold. Employers are still covered by the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, which requires a workplace "free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm." OSHA also runs a heat National Emphasis Program, an enforcement program renewed April 10, 2026, for up to five years. A federal heat rule was proposed in August 2024, and the most recent federal regulatory agenda lists a supplemental proposal for December 2026. That is a schedule entry, not a rule.
Some states have their own heat rules, including California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota (indoor workplaces), and Colorado (agriculture). If you work in one of them, the state rule may set specific triggers; California’s requirements start at 80°F.
A one-page seasonal plan might cover:
• Triggers. The heat and wind chill conditions that change how you work, checked against the NWS forecast each morning.
• Breaks. Short warm-up or cool-down breaks on a set schedule, more often as conditions get worse.
• Warm-up and cool-down spots. A heated cab or shelter in winter; shade and water in summer.
• New and returning workers. The NIOSH acclimatization schedule from Wednesday.
• Buddy checks. Each hand watches one other hand for the signs from Tuesday.
• Emergency plan. Who calls 911, the site address, and the route to the nearest hospital.
Outside the state rules, that list is crew practice, not an OSHA checklist. The weather sets the conditions; the plan decides how the crew comes through them. Tomorrow, the Health Focus turns to what cold does to skin.
Key Takeaways
• No specific federal OSHA heat or cold standard; the General Duty Clause still applies, and some states set their own heat triggers.
• The federal heat rule is still proposed; the agenda lists a supplemental proposal for December 2026.
• Put triggers, breaks, warm and cool spots, acclimatization, buddy checks, and the emergency plan on one page.
Sources:
• OSHA: Heat: Standards
• OSHA: Cold Stress
Knowledge Share
Part 3 of 4: Domain 1 Review
Time to check yourself. Answer on paper before you look at the key.
1. Which way does groundwater flow under Darcy’s law?
2. T is 15,000 gpd/ft and saturated thickness is 50 feet. What is K?
3. A well pumps 400 gpm with 20 feet of drawdown. What is its specific capacity?
4. Why is specific capacity not a pure aquifer property?
5. Which logarithm does the Thiem equation use?
6. Convert 7,480 gpd/ft to ft²/day.
7. A Cooper-Jacob plot at 300 gpm shows 10 feet of drawdown per log cycle. What is T?
8. Your first few minutes of data fall off the straight line. Why?
9. In the recovery equation, what are t and t′?
10. Midway through a test, the drawdown curve suddenly steepens. Barrier or recharge boundary?
Common study pitfalls (editor’s guidance, not exam data): mixing unit systems; treating specific capacity as an aquifer property; fitting Cooper-Jacob to early-time data; confusing storativity with specific yield; using the confined Thiem form on an unconfined aquifer; ignoring boundaries.
What this means for your exam prep
• Score yourself. Anything you missed points to the week to reread.
• Domain 2 starts Monday with formation sieve analysis, and it builds on K and grain size from Week 2.
Answer key: (1) From higher head to lower head. (2) 300 gpd/ft², about 40 feet per day. (3) 20 gpm/ft. (4) Measured drawdown includes well loss. (5) The natural log. (6) About 1,000 ft²/day. (7) 264 × 300 ÷ 10 = 7,920 gpd/ft. (8) Early on, u is too large for Cooper-Jacob. (9) t is time since pumping started; t′ is time since it stopped. (10) Barrier.
Recommended Print References:
• Hydraulics of Wells: American Society of Civil Engineers
• Handbook of Ground Water Development- Roscoe Moss Company
• Groundwater & Wells, Third Edition- Edited by Robert J. Sterrett, Johnson Screens
Vendor Directory
Premium Vendors-
Become a Premium or Plus vendor and increase your exposure. Claim your company and upgrade or list your company at https://waterwellresource.com/become-a-listed-vendor/
Basic Vendors-
Work Hard. Work Smart. Stay Safe!
