Page 30 - OHS, September 2023

WINTER HAZARDS Preventing Cold Stress While Preserving Productivity The right employer intervention and selecting the proper cold-weather PPE keep workers safe, warm and productive. BY SARINA MCCRANIE If there weren’t already enough hazards involved in working on a busy job site, winter weather makes a tough, physically demanding job even harder. Cold temperatures attack winter workers, stealing away body heat, risking their safety, attentiveness and productivity. However, your team can overcome cold temperatures if they understand the signs of cold stress and have the right personal protective equipment (PPE) and winter workwear to overcome it. How Cold is Too Cold? Cold stress occurs when the body must work harder to maintain its normal temperature. When internal body temperature drops below 95°F (35°C), the difference between injuries and safety, cold-stress accidents or injuries. Assign a risk of hypothermia, frostbite and other team member to watch the weather and delayed projects and peak productivity, and cold-related injuries increases rapidly. working conditions at the job site so you possibly even life and death on the job site. Because people in cold environments When body temperature drops can adjust daily productivity standards or lose heat in several ways, workers need plan to work on alternate projects when because of cold winter weather or a cold head-to-toe protection to stay warm, safe severe winter weather is expected. work environment, cold stress sets in, and and productive. There are five ways the more serious issues like hypothermia and Next, train everyone working on cold cold attacks workers: winter job sites to recognize the signs frostbite aren’t far behind. 1. Radiation. Freezing cold causes heat of cold stress. Enforcing the use of a Cold stress starts a downward spiral loss via radiation. Exposed skin radiates in worker attention, reaction times and buddy system ensures that there’s always heat, mangnifying the cold’s effects. one employee looking out for another. personal health. Often, the team member 2. Convection. You might think of Recognizing that a coworker is in trouble is focused on their work and doesn’t realize this like wind-chill. Convection amplifies they’re experiencing cold stress until they and acting swiftly is the best way to coldness on windy days. Wind removes prevent the situation from escalating to experience restricted mobility, declining the warmer air near the skin. frostbite, hypothermia, or worse. coordination, and impaired ability to 3. Conduction. Conduction-based operate equipment or machinery. And Consider adjusting your break time heat loss happens when workers touch that means the safety and productivity policies to offer workers more frequent cold objects, like metal tools or icy roads.1 of everyone on the job site could be at respites from the cold for the duration of the 4. Evaporation. While summer sweat risk. Here are the cold stress symptoms winter season or if long hours in the blast cools, winter sweat inside insulated gear that every employee working in cold freezer are needed. Whether you supply increases cold stress because the body environments should be able to identify: an indoor warming area or allow outdoor loses heat due to evaporation. workers to take their breaks in a warm ■ Shivering, fatigue, or disorientation. 5. Respiration. Breathing in frigid vehicle, keeping them safe from the effects ■ Lack of concentration, lack of air reduces body heat and distracts from of cold stress will keep them more alert and alertness, or delayed reaction time. work, lowering core temperature. more productive when break time is over. ■ Impaired mobility, or loss of speech. Understanding all five ways by which You can also empower employees to ■ Cold, tingling, stinging or aching in workers can lose heat helps to indentify the take charge of their warmth and safety areas followed by numbness. PPE that is best suited to each employee’s with simple training. Share the following ■ Change in skin color from red to job function and work environment. 10 tips with your teams so they’ll be purple to white or pale in color. prepared to stay productive in extremely Recognize Cold Stress on the Job cold conditions: Empowering Employees Understanding the risks of cold stress 1. Choose workwear based on the Train your team to identify environmental and cold-related illnesses can make the environment. Match the insulation level and workplace hazards that could lead to Evgeniy Zhukov/Shutterstock.com 30 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2023 www.ohsonline.com