Items Tagged with 'cold stress'

Duane Duhamel, HSE Director at ISN, talks about winter weather safety, and dismantling the dangerous myth that safety and productivity are at odds during a crisis.

While diligent employers prepare for obvious winter threats, it’s the overlooked risks that often cause the most severe consequences.

It’s a great time to check on workplace safety practices and implement proactive measures for dealing with winter weather, including extreme cold. 

Cold stress occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce, leading to a drop in core temperature and harm to bodily functions.

Employers who do not address the safety hazards of working in cold temperatures risk lost productivity, accidents and injuries.

It’s imperative that those working with industrial freezers are able to recognize, treat, and most important prevent cold stress and its potential health impacts.

Even in regions that traditionally experience milder winter weather conditions, changing climate patterns are leading to deep freezes and snowstorms that disrupt operations and lead to increased safety risks. 

The association’s goal is to leverage the vast technical expertise of members to positively influence public policy that better safeguards worker health and safety.

Employers are responsible for protecting their workers from cold stress and other winter injuries. Learn how to keep workers safe when working in freezing temperatures.

Heat may get the headlines, but a study from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found that cold weather is 20 times as deadly as hot weather. That study corroborates a U.S. study that found cold kills more than double the number of Americans as heat does.