Health and Safety on J-1 Summer Work and Travel: Emergency Numbers, Heat and Who to Call

Put 911, your sponsor’s 24/7 line and the State Department helpline in your phone before your first shift. The rest of this page shows when to use each, what your sponsor must do for your safety, and how to handle the hazards a summer job brings, such as heat, water and alcohol. The living hub has the other settling-in guides.

The short version

1. Save 911, your sponsor’s 24/7 number and the State Department helpline in your phone.
2. Call 911 if you are in immediate physical danger.
3. Call your sponsor first for any problem with your program.
4. Call 1-866-283-9090 if your sponsor cannot help or cannot be reached.
5. Drink plenty of fluids and find shade when it is hot.

Who to call, in order

Pick the number by how fast you need help.

Your sponsor comes first for program matters. The sponsor is responsible for assisting and advising you on all matters regarding your program. In an emergency, J-1 exchange visitors should contact their sponsors, as a university J-1 office also puts it. If a concern is not resolved or you cannot reach the sponsor, the State Department helpline takes the next call.

Reporting abuse or exploitation

If you are mistreated or your rights are violated, call the toll-free numbers the State Department lists:

• J-1 Visa Emergency Hotline: 1-866-283-9090.
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center: 1-888-373-7888.
• Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force: 1-888-428-7581.

You have a right to be treated fairly and to report abuse without retaliation or threat of program cancellation. The State Department activated the helpline to ensure the health and safety of exchange participants.

If you must leave the US for an emergency at home

To return as a J-1 exchange visitor, you need an unexpired passport, a valid entry visa and a DS-2019 with a travel signature, as Tufts University’s international center explains. Sponsors also require every participant to keep them apprised of a current address and phone number.

What your sponsor and employer must do

The rules turn safety into specific duties. Before you leave home, your sponsor must give you its 24/7 immediate contact number and the Department of State’s toll-free help line number. Sponsors must also give all participants emergency contact information.

Then the contact continues all summer:

• The sponsor keeps at least monthly personal contact with you, and that contact is documented.
• The sponsor must promptly and appropriately address health, safety and welfare issues found through that contact.
• The sponsor monitors the physical site of your activity and your welfare.
• Your employer must contact the sponsor immediately in any emergency involving you.
• You must keep the sponsor informed of your current address and phone number.

Orientation must cover available health care, emergency assistance and insurance coverage. The pre-arrival information must describe health care and insurance costs and requirements. Insurance details are in health insurance.

Sponsors must also use extra caution with employers in lines of business frequently associated with trafficking. They may not place you in jobs declared hazardous to youth by the Secretary of Labor, in operating vehicles or vessels that need a license, in chemical pest control, or in clinical care with patient contact.

Heat: the main summer risk

Extreme heat means temperatures above 90 degrees for at least two to three days, and it causes more annual deaths than any other weather-related hazard. Humidity increases the feeling of heat.

How to stay safe in heat

• Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.
• Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
• Outside, find shade and wear a hat wide enough to protect your face.
• Avoid high-energy activity or outdoor work in the midday heat if you can.
• Do not rely on a fan as your main way to cool down. A fan can make you hotter at higher temperatures.
• Find a cool place, such as a library or shopping mall, if your housing has no air conditioning.
• Never leave people or pets in a closed car on a warm day. Kids who get into a car can die in 10 minutes.

Heat at work is covered by the Department of Labor’s safety agency. Illness from heat exposure is preventable, yet every year thousands become sick from heat at work, and some cases are fatal. Risk factors include heavy physical activity, hot conditions, lack of acclimatization and clothing that holds in body heat. Bakeries, kitchens and laundries are among the places where workers have suffered heat illness. Workers who have not spent recent time in the heat need time to build tolerance, and in their first few days employers should encourage fluids, shorter shifts and frequent breaks.

Recognize heat illness

Heat stroke is a severe medical emergency, and delay can be fatal. While you wait, move the person to a cool, shaded area, remove outer clothing and place a cold, wet cloth or ice pack on the head, neck, armpits and groin. For the cramp and exhaustion stages, call a health provider if symptoms get worse or last more than an hour.

Water and weather

For the water, follow the National Weather Service’s rip current guidance:

• Only swim at a beach with lifeguards, and talk to the lifeguard before you go in.
• Do not assume good weather means safe water: rip currents often form on calm, sunny days.
• Never turn your back on the ocean.

On land, lightning strikes the United States about 25 million times a year. Most lightning occurs in the summer, but people can be struck at any time of year.

Alcohol and safety

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism points to keeping the minimum legal drinking age at 21 as a way to prevent underage drinking problems. Zero-tolerance laws that outlaw driving after any amount of drinking for people younger than 21 also help.

A US standard drink holds 0.6 fluid ounces, or 14 grams, of pure alcohol. That is 12 ounces of beer with about 5 percent alcohol. A large cup of beer or an overpoured glass could hold much more than a standard drink. The legal side is in laws and your rights.

What the program is

The Summer Work Travel program gives foreign students a chance to live and work in the US during their summer vacation from college or university. Participants must be full-time students at accredited schools outside the US. The maximum length of the program is four months. Sponsors must monitor the physical site of your activity and your welfare. Read the first week checklist next.