Free, printable, no email required
Written to be read out loud at the tailgate, not filed. Five steps, five minutes, a sign-in sheet so it counts as a training record, and no sign-up wall in front of it. Print it and run it.
The talk
The lines in the bordered text are meant to be said more or less as written. Everything under them is what you do while saying it. Swap in your own numbers where the brackets are.
"The heat index today is going to hit [__]°F by [__] o'clock. That puts us in the [__] band, so we are on [__] minutes of work and [__] minutes of rest once we get there."
Say the actual number. A talk about heat in general gets tuned out; a talk about this afternoon does not. If you do not know today's heat index, look it up before the talk rather than guessing, and set the cycle from the break chart.
"If someone is tired, dizzy, sick to their stomach, sweating hard, that is heat exhaustion. Get them cool and stay with them. If someone is confused, slurring, or goes down, that is heat stroke. That is 911, right then, and we start cooling while we wait."
Confusion is the line. That is the single most useful thing a crew can carry away from this talk. Run the table below on the printed sheet if you want to show it rather than say it.
"If it happens, [name] calls 911. [name] meets the truck at the gate. [name] starts cooling. Everyone else clears the space and keeps working the plan."
Name people, not roles. "Someone call 911" is how nobody calls 911. On a secure or gated site, the person meeting the ambulance matters as much as the person calling, because a locked gate can cost several minutes that a heat stroke does not have.
"Anyone new this week, anyone back after time off, anyone who was ill overnight: you are on the short cycle today. That is not a judgement, it is how bodies work."
Roughly three quarters of fatal heat illnesses happen in a worker's first week. That includes people coming back from time off, because acclimatisation fades after about a week away. NIOSH suggests starting a new worker at about 20% of a normal shift on day one and adding about 20% a day, and starting a returning worker nearer 50%, back to full days by day four.
"Water is [there]. Cool-down area is [there]. Both are yours without asking. If you are waiting until you are thirsty, you are already behind."
Point, do not describe. If the water is a two-minute walk past a badge reader, it may as well not be there, and that is worth fixing before the next talk. A cool-down area that is not actually cool does not count as one under most state rules.
"Who has felt it start on them before? What did it feel like first?"
A toolbox talk that is only one person talking is a briefing. The point of asking is that the crew hears the early signs described in their own words by someone they work with, which lands harder than anything you read out. Sit through the silence; someone always answers.
The reference
Signs and first aid exactly as OSHA publishes them. This prints with the talk, so the crew can look at it while you run step 02.
| Heat exhaustion | Heat stroke | |
|---|---|---|
| Signs | Fatigue, irritability, thirst, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, heavy sweating, raised temperature or fast heart rate | Confusion, slurred speech, unconsciousness, seizures, heavy or absent sweating, very high temperature, fast heart rate |
| Do | Move somewhere cooler, remove heavy clothing, cool actively with ice or cold wet towels, keep them monitored | Call 911 immediately. Cool with ice or cold water until help arrives. Do not wait to see if it improves |
| The rule | OSHA's own summary: when in doubt, cool the worker and call 911. Confusion or slurred speech is the line between the two columns. | |
Source: OSHA, heat illness first aid. Acclimatisation guidance from NIOSH 2016-106. This is a summary for a safety talk and does not replace your emergency response plan or a trained first aider.
The part that makes it count
Every state heat rule that requires training also requires you to be able to show it happened. A signed sheet with the date, the topic and the names is the usual evidence. Keep this with your heat illness prevention plan.
| Name (print) | Signature | Job / trade |
|---|---|---|
Heat stress toolbox talk. Signs and first aid per OSHA. Retain with your heat illness prevention plan. clemacooling.com/heat-stress-toolbox-talk
Running it well
| Do | Why |
|---|---|
| Run it at the tailgate, before the shift starts | A talk in a trailer at lunch is a meeting. A talk where the work is, is a briefing people act on |
| Use today's forecast, not a generic warning | Specificity is the whole reason anyone listens. "104 by two o'clock" beats "it is going to be hot" |
| Repeat it on every heat priority day | OSHA's National Emphasis Program treats a forecast heat index of 80°F as a heat priority day, and that is the cadence inspectors expect |
| Fix what the questions surface | If three people say the water is too far away, the talk found a real hazard. Moving the water is worth more than the talk was |
Where cooling gear fits: it is the bottom rung of every control hierarchy, below engineering and administrative controls. It extends the safe productive time between the breaks the rule already requires, and does not replace water, shade, rest or the plan. More on that in what the law actually requires.
FAQ
Summer 2026, 500-unit first batch