Even as temperatures soar, the job has to get done.

Employers and employees have to adjust to ensure that everyone stays safe in the harsh desert summer. Workers at outdoor jobs including construction, air-conditioning, agriculture, landscaping and garbage collection stand a higher risk of heat-related illnesses.

"It's very, very hot. Too hot, but it pays the bills," said John Booker, a laborer with Lyons Roofing of Phoenix. He and a group of other men were tearing down and replacing shingles on Tuesday atop a Glendale home.

Despite triple-digit temperatures, Booker, 22, wore a long-sleeved gray shirt over a black undershirt. He said the outfit absorbs the sweat and keeps him wet so when the wind blows, it has a cooling effect.

"In the winter time, this job ain't nothing," Booker said.

He drinks about 3 gallons of water as his workday goes by and takes regular breaks, as mandated by his foreman, Nathan Begay.

Begay said, "The shingles absorb the heat, so you can feel it coming through your shoes and your gloves."

He rotates his workers so that every 15 minutes someone is taking a break in the shade. The men started working at dawn and hoped to call it a day by 2 p.m., before the most intense heat set in.

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis recently announced a nationwide outreach by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to educate employers and employees about the risks of working outdoors in the heat and how to prevent heat-related illnesses.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, 110 people died of heat-related causes in 2009, up from 85 in 2008. About 1,400 people suffer serious heat-related illnesses in Arizona annually. The average per person hospital treatment cost for heat-related illnesses in Arizona in 2008 was $7,500, with approximately $11 million spent for emergency visits.

Heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer, claiming about 1,500 lives in the country every year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And that number is higher than the combined 30-year mean annual deaths attributed to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined.

About two to three people die every year from heat-related issues on the job in Arizona, said Darin Perkins, director of the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health in Phoenix. Most of these cases are in agriculture and construction industries.

He believes there are higher figures for heat-related illnesses, but employers are not required to report those.

Quick effects

Some would argue protection from the heat would be common sense in a desert, but Perkins said some people who haven't lived here long enough don't fully appreciate the dangers of the heat or how quickly an employee can become ill when working in the sun.

"There are times when we get too involved in our work that we are not cognizant of the danger until it's too late," Perkins said. "We are telling them that they need to be aware of the fact that heat kills and can cause serious illness."

Muscle cramps or spasms are an early-warning sign of heat illness. Sweating heavily, headache and vomiting are also signs of heat exhaustion, which can quickly progress to heatstroke. Heatstroke can lead to death or damage to the brain and vital organs.

Perkins said his office encourages employers to provide enough water, adequate rest periods and shade for employees exposed to high temperatures.

Employers who don't take precautions to protect workers could receive an OSHA citation leading to a fine of up to $70,000. However, in the event of death, Perkins said, the liability could be more serious than an OSHA penalty.

Harold Gribow, safety director for the Phoenix-based Arizona Small Business Association, said that when needed, he advises members to start work as early as legally possible and get workers off the job before the hottest times of the day.

"The earlier you can work, the better it is for the worker," Gribow said.

He also said employers should encourage workers to hydrate even before feeling thirsty.

"If you are dying from thirst, you are already dehydrated," he said. "Be aware that if you have gone hours and you have been drinking water, but haven't had to go to the bathroom, you are probably dehydrated and need to drink more."

More awareness

Companies such as Cave Creek-based Rubbish Works, which provides waste disposal, junk removal and rubbish-pickup services for residential and commercial clients, are on heat alert.

Co-owner Dave Toon says he provides safety training once every month, and on smaller jobs, he provides sun protection and a cooler for workers' water. On bigger jobs, he provides water and Gatorade to restore electrolytes.

He requires his employees to take a full 10-minute-break in the truck every hour and a half, with the air-conditioning running.

"My boys are the most important thing to me, I want to make sure they are not hurt or injured," Toon said. "No matter what they do, I require that they take that break."

Ann Pepper, director of business development at Lyons Roofing, said the company adjusts work hours during the summer to get the job done as early in the day as possible.

"We hope to get them on the roof by 6 and off the roof by 12," she said. "That's a healthy approach. The sun is dangerous."

The company also provides water, hats and sunscreen for workers.

"I tell everybody, 'Wear sunblock and move it down to the chest,' " Pepper said.

With about 70 employees who work outdoors, the company has safety meetings twice a month, and has certified a number of workers in first aid. The company also employs a full-time safety officer exclusively to monitor the safety of workers on the jobs.

Begay, who has lived in the in Phoenix area all his life, said he was used to the high temperatures, but still takes all the precautions.

This is the first heat outreach campaign of its kind undertaken by the Labor Department, and will be an ongoing program, according to Deanne Amaden, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor in San Francisco.

The department will reach out to tribal organizations, federal organizations such as the Border Patrol and Forest Service and military bases, Amaden said.

Even though the number of occupational heat-related deaths in Arizona is small, Amaden said, one fatality was one too many.

"If you think about that one worker who dies, that's a family with no income or no one to take care of the children," she said.