Heat Stress Awareness & Prevention
Welcome to this week's safety topic, heat stress, and Prevention. When the weather gets warm, it's important that you stay safe, and when it's hot outside, it's even more important. During the hot weather, AC calls are typically at an all time high. Your technicians must work outside in the sun on rooftops, in attics, crawl spaces, and very inhospitable places to make sure their customers, the residents, all have air conditioning and can enjoy it in their home at a comfortable temperature.
Heat injuries happen often in the workplace, and too often when you don't suspect it. Make sure that you regularly check on technicians throughout the day and make sure they have not suffered from a heat injury or show any signs or symptoms. It could be as simple as making sure there's water and healthy drinks available all day, and that they must let their supervisor or manager know if they're staying hydrated.
It can often be something that just simply gets overlooked, so when you're busy, make sure you stay hydrated. The last thing you want to do is find a technician that suffered heat exhaustion or heat stroke, or heat injury because someone didn't think to check on them or have water and fluids available.
If someone's going to work on a rooftop or in an isolated area, they should check in every so often 15 minutes or so to let someone know they're all right, they're doing well, and consider this. The surface temperature of many rooftops is well over 140 degrees. An attic can be just as hot if not hotter, and it's already hot enough outside in the sun and the shade.
Take a look at this video to see the difference in temperatures between surfaces that your technicians must walk on and work on throughout the day. Okay, so it's hot out today. Just to give you an idea, the air temperature is 96 degrees Fahrenheit, and I have a laser thermometer here, and I just wanna show you the difference in temperatures between the shade, different surface types.
And what your technicians are exposed to on a daily basis. So it's 96 degrees outside, so the grass in the shade is 90 degrees. The wood chips in the shade are 106 degrees, and they have scattered light on them. Now the cement, just the curb itself is 97 degrees. Now let's go to the curb in the sunlight.
That's 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Now let's take a look at the asphalt. So your technicians are walking around on a surface that's 142 degrees. So anytime you think it's hot outside, just always keep in mind that the surface temperature is always much hotter. So let's look 93 degrees for the grass in the sunlight.
- It's really remarkable what people are exposed to and have to work in. So now when it's hot out and you're in an enclosed area, in a shop, in a truck, or a vehicle, or on a piece of equipment, just realize your technicians look at the temperature difference. A hundred forty nine fifty one degrees. To give you an idea that is hotter than the water in most electric and gas water heaters for someone's home, a hundred thirty, twenty seven, and the temperature goes up.
So make sure everybody knows how hot it is they prepare, and that you take care of yourself and everyone on your team by making sure they have breaks, plenty of water. And stay safe. Be safe, work safe, and go home safe. Take good care. So be sure to take care of your team. Make time for you and them to hydrate throughout the day.
Then you can find out if they have any symptoms or if you observe any symptoms that they may be unaware of. Make sure everyone takes breaks. They have plenty of fluids. They know what the symptoms are and understand the most common heat injuries such as heat, stress, stroke, exhaustion, heat cramps. And that everyone on the team knows what to do if the heat injury occurs, and how to apply first aid.
Make sure everyone knows the plan. In summary, when possible, avoid heavy exertion, extreme heat, sun exposure, and high humidity when possible, when they can't be avoided. Take preventative steps. In addition to having plenty of fluids, a few tips are to wear light colored, loose fitting, breathable clothing, avoid non breathable clothing, gradually build up to heavy work.
Schedule the heavy work during the coolest parts of the day. Take more breaks whenever doing the heavy work. Be aware that protective clothing or PPE may risk the increase of heat related illnesses. As always, if you have any questions or need training or more information. See your supervisor or manager.
Thanks for watching and listening to this episode. Work safe, be safe, and go home safely. Take good care.
