Safety Tips For Working In The Cold

With the official start of winter just weeks away, temperatures throughout the country have already plunged to record lows. This sudden temperature drop creates a dangerous environment for employees who are forced to work outside. If your job requires you to work outside in the cold, you should take some basic precautions to protect yourself from occupational cold stress.

There are three primary elements that make working in cold environments challenging:

• Wind temperature
• Wind movement/speed
• Humidity

It's important for workers to understand and address each of these elements to protect against injury and illness. Allowing moisture to settle into your clothes, for instance, can result in dangerous hypothermia. Wearing a waterproof jacket, however, will keep you dry by wicking water and moisture away from your body.

OSHA recommends workers wear a minimum of three layers of loose-fitting clothing when working in cold environments. Doing so allows workers to strip off layers as they warm up. This is particularly important when you begin to sweat, as your body's own sweat would otherwise become trapped against your skip, further increasing the risk of hypothermia.

In addition, cold-weather workers should also wear either a hat or hood, a knit mask to cover their face, insulated gloves, and insulated boots. Taking the time to gear up well in advance of a work shift in cold weather will keep you warm and comfortable while protecting against common forms of cold stress.

Part of the responsibility of protecting workers from occupational cold stress also lies on the employer's shoulders. OSHA states that employers should provide warm liquids, such at hot chocolate and/or coffee, to workers in cold environments.

"Employers should use safe work practices. For example, it is easy to become dehydrated in cold weather. Employers therefore, can provide plenty of warm sweetened liquids to workers.  Avoid alcoholic drinks. If possible, employers can schedule heavy work during the warmer part of the day.

Employers can assign workers to tasks in pairs (buddy system), so that they can monitor each other for signs of cold stress. Workers can be allowed to interrupt their work, if they are extremely uncomfortable. Employers should give workers frequent breaks in warm areas," wrote the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Do you frequently work outside in the cold? We'd love to hear some of your tips on how to stay warm!