Heat Stress and Heat Illness Prevention

Every week, ParFab focuses on a new safety topic during our meeting. This weeks safety topic is about heat stress. This summer, temperatures have reach record high heat. For those of you working in extremely hot conditions, we thought it be best to share how we're preventing heat exhaustion, stress and illness.

Risk Factors for Heat Illness

Exposure to heat can not only cause illness, but also death in extreme circumstances. The most serious kind of heat illness is a heat stroke. Other heat illnesses, such as heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat rash, can also occur in high temperature weather conditions.

The following are perfect conditions for someone to endure heat illnesses:

• High temperature and humidity, direct sun exposure, no breeze or wind
• Heavy physical labor
• No recent exposure to hot workplaces
• Low water intake
• Waterproof clothing: Wear cotton clothing as your inner garment, it retains sweat and breathes proving cooling for you.

Heat Illness Symptoms to be Aware Of

How to Prevent Heat Illness

There are precautions that can be taken when temperatures are high and the job involves physical work. Below are the heat illness prevention guidelines that ParFab follows during extreme heat conditions.

• ParFab has established a complete heat illness prevention program for our team, which provides training about the hazards leading to heat stress and how to prevent them.
• We also modify work schedules and arrange frequent rest periods with water breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas if needed.
• Weather conditions and water intake is monitored to protect our workers who are at risk of heat stress.
• Provide a lot of cool water to workers close to the work area.
• Warn workers about drinking energy drinks as they contain caffeine, which removes fluids from your body.
• Minimize alcohol intake during hot temperatures as it removes fluids from your body.
• Drink at least one pint of water per hour, and twice as much water to gator aid or electrolyte drinks.

When you feel dehydration symptoms, you can also try IV vitamin infusions. IV vitamin infusions immediately deliver 100% of each vitamin into your bloodstream, giving you a much higher concentration of vitamins than you would orally. The Hydration IV rapidly replenishes fluids in your body in ways that drinking water can't. Our friends at Drip IV even offer corporate rates and discounts.

ParFab Safety

ParFab’s senior management advocates safety as a “Core Company Value,” one that the company takes as seriously as productivity. When it comes to safety, we are determined to always meet or exceed the standards our industry has set, every time. For more about ParFab safety culture, HSE commitments, and safety stats, visit our Safety page.

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