Page 36 - OHS, June 2020

HEAT STRESS
Stop Sweating Heat Stress
Addressing heat stress in the workplace will not only keep your workers safe and productive, but it can also prevent employee turnover.
BY ALEX RISEN
32 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2020
www.ohsonline.com
Safe, productive employees are important to any operation’s bottom line. However, en- gagement is more than a matter of attitude and work ethic. Environmental factors— like hot temperatures—reduce the energy, focus and passion employees can dedicate to their tasks. Sub- optimal conditions can also lead to injuries and em- ployee turnover, sending tenured, high-performing employees into the arms of competitors.
Air movement and improved airflow combat heat, improve productivity and reduce workplace illness and injury in the toughest environments. Focusing on employee comfort can improve morale as much as a pay raise, and workplace improvements provided give employers a compelling advantage in recruiting quali- fied employees and keeping them engaged long-term in a competitive labor market.
A significant cost of heat stress is decrease in worker productivity due to the earliest symptoms— heavy sweating, fatigue, lack of focus and irritation. In fact, studies have shown productivity decreases by about one percent for every degree the tempera- ture rises above 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers can’t achieve their highest throughput when they feel le- thargic and need to take more breaks on warmer days, which leaves their stations unmanned for five to 10 minutes multiple times per day.
Heat stress can strike anyone at any time, no matter their age, physical fitness or experience level.
However, few groups are more at risk than employ- ees who work in hot environments. The combination of physical exertion and high temperatures can bring on heat-related illness with little to no warning. By providing comfortable, refreshing airflow to large ar- eas, employers can not only prevent the onset of heat stress but also keep workers productive. The air move- ment makes perspiration more effective and efficient, helping the body to maintain its ideal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and creating a wind-chill ef- fect that makes workers feel up to 10 degrees cooler.
Employee comfort should not be viewed as a priv- ilege or treated as an afterthought. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, thousands of annual reported heat injuries are so serious that they result in time away from work. In 2018, the National Weather Service reported 108 fatalities from heat stroke in the United States alone, making it by far the deadliest weather phenomenon. The focus needs to be placed not only on preventing heat stress, but providing far more efficient means than air conditioning, using about two percent of the energy of the average air con- ditioner, fans thoroughly engineered to operate in hot, humid, and dusty environments for decades can result in immediate ROI in addition to comfort.
Air movement and increased airflow are criti- cal components for keeping workers on task and on their feet, while putting money back into the pock- ets of employers.
How To Use Fans to Fight Heat Illness
Stay Hydrated. Fans cool people by helping evaporate sweat, which carries heat away from the body. To pre- vent the onset of heat illness, people in the path of the airflow must stay hydrated for efficient perspiration. OSHA recommends employees drink at least one pint of water per hour in hot climates.
Use Big Fans. An 8- to 24-foot HVLS fan can easily outperform 20 to 50 traditional fans in terms of coverage area. Employers with more than two or three employees should ensure everyone receives a cooling breeze by choosing large ceiling-mounted, wall-mounted or mobile fans to provide a safer, qual- ity work environment.
Use Directional Fans Outdoors. Outdoor work- ers are at the highest risk of heat illness on warmer days. Versatile, mobile directional fans provide por- table cooling options, delivering powerful airflow up to 120 feet away from the source and allowing workers