Page 46 - OHS, March 2021

PPE: PROTECTIVE APPAREL
Get Ready for the Heat with Cooling Technology
Protective apparel that keeps workers cool should be a safety priority.
BY M.B. SUTHERLAND
Human beings have been working in the heat since the beginning of time, but even in our modern age, physical exertion in hot temperatures too often leads to serious heat illness. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that 11
workers are seriously injured or die from heat stress every day in the United States.
This statistic would be bad enough for any type of accident, but heat illness is 100 percent preventable. Whether it’s due to lack of information, complacent attitudes, limited cooling solutions or some combination of the three, this problem remains at the top of safety managers’ concerns.
The good news is that manufacturers have been hard at work inventing new solutions to keep workers cooler and safer in surprisingly convenient ways.
Tried and True Heat Stress Busters
Before you begin exploring the latest and greatest in body cooling solutions, make sure you have the basics in place. The first, and possibly most important way to start, is with training.1 Team leaders who understand and share the basics of heat stress avoidance are leaders who will have fewer employees in distress. But many employees, and sometimes even managers, don’t fully understand how the body responds to overheating, and often think they can simply wing it with a little water and a wide brimmed hat.
Training that emphasizes hydration the night before, on the job and after the job, as well as factors like medication and alcohol that can change the way the body responds to the heat is crucial. Educate your whole team about the dangers of microclimates— areas of the job that are hotter than others due to hot machinery, lack of shade or other factors. Keep cold water and electrolyte- replacing beverages on hand. At the same time, emphasize that in hot working conditions, hydration alone will not prevent heat illness without additional body cooling measures. Change any
hot day’s schedule to include more rest breaks, and above all, make sure everyone from the job foreman to the newest worker knows the signs of heat stress and how to respond to the four levels of heat illness, up to and including deadly heat stroke.
Traditional Cooling Products
Manufacturers studied the biggest complaints about traditional body cooling garments—that they didn’t get cool enough, the cool didn’t last and the chemicals on the fabric tended to create an unpleasant, slimy feeling when wet. Many of these products feel cool for a short time after getting them wet, but workers report that the refreshing item they started with turns into a burden, as absorbed water and sweat heats up quickly and can eventually even impede body cooling by holding hot moisture against the skin. Also, workers in remote locations had no way to refresh these garments throughout the day since any cold water on site was usually meant for drinking, not re-saturating a hot, limp bandana.
Other tried and true methods of keeping workers as cool as possible work a bit better, but still have their drawbacks. Products like cooling vests help to keep the wearer’s core temperature down, but don’t necessarily feel refreshing. It’s a “trust me, it’s working!” solution that both safety managers and employees may find cumbersome, and it only works for a short period of time in a long workday.
Evaporative Technology
Efforts to address these problems spawned a revolution in the industry that gave us far superior body cooling garments that use HydroActive technology. The special weave of these fabrics harnesses the power of natural evaporation instead of chemicals. With just a little water of any temperature (even very hot water) and a quick wring and snap, the fabric cools down to as low as 30 degrees below average body temperature in 60 seconds and stays
42 Occupational Health & Safety | MARCH 2021
www.ohsonline.com
VTT Studio/Shutterstock.com