With the summer months here, the summer heat follows. Heat raises health risks in all people, but especially when working. Making sure employees stay safe and healthy is something that needs to be of top priority, and often times this means extra precautions need to be added to the every day schedule. Without safety preventative safety measures being taken, working long hours in the heat will cause a decrease in company productivity as well as potential long term health risks to employees.
Working with large equipment is always a risk, and with the added problems that heat can cause employee safety should be considered very heavily when it comes to making decisions. Here are some summer safety tips to consider when creating an environment that is safe and productive.
- Make sure there is proper ventilation. With a large facility it may be difficult to ventilate the whole space, but big fans will help create air flow.
- Let employees take breaks. It may seem like less work will get done, but if exhaustion or other heat problems set it, no work will be able to get done.
- Ask how workers are feeling. Sometimes employees may not feel comfortable just approaching you with their problems, keep their health in your top interests and ask them how they’re feeling.
- Know the signs of heat related illness and take action. It is important that if something does happen to an employee, you can recognize it and know how to react. Your employees should be trained to identify the symptoms in themselves and each other as well.
- Offer hydration stations or water coolers for your team. Heat can cause dehydration, offer water to prevent this.
- Encourage your employees to take consideration when choosing their lunch options. Eating lunch with a high caloric count can affect the body negatively when working in extreme heat.
- Don’t forget about normal safety routines. While take extra precautions is a good thing, don’t forget about the regular safety practices that keep workers healthy and safe every day.
The summer months cause extra hazards to look out for. Keep your employees and yourself safe when the heat starts to have an effect on the workplace. Practicing extra precautions will put everyone in a safe place where productivity can increase and your company can thrive.