December is the month when safety professionals typically prepare safety talks addressing the perils of winter. The challenge is taking general information about winter safety and making it directly and personally relevant to your workers. Last week, we looked at some of the ways to do that with regard to winter driving, slips, trips and falls and early darkness. Conspicuous by its absence is perhaps the most perilous winter hazard of all: the dangers of working in cold weather. Let's get into that one now.

1. Review Work Policies

Review your company's policies on working in hazardous weather conditions. Make sure that it describes the dangers of working in extreme cold and tells workers what to do to guard against those dangers. Tailor your talk to fit with your company's safety procedures and operations.

2. Review Emergency Preparedness Plans

Chances are your facilities will be ravaged by at least one winter storm this season. Review your company's plan for coping with a winter storm. Go over the plan with your workers and explain who is responsible for maintaining equipment and performing other necessary functions during business closures.

3. Teach Workers about Frostbite & Hypothermia

One of the key topics to go over with workers is cold stress. Make sure workers - especially those who work outdoors - are trained to recognize and respond to the signs and symptoms of frostbite and hypothermia. To personalize the message, invite a company nurse or first aid attendant to your meeting to demonstrate the proper methods of caring for hypothermia and frostbite.

If you are in the sunny South, don't dismiss hypothermia as irrelevant. The danger of contracting hypothermia isn't limited to outdoor work in freezing temperatures. It can be caused by a fall into a lake, the ocean or other body of water and even by getting caught in a drenching rainstorm. Indoor workers are also at risk of hypothermia if they spend prolonged periods in freezers or other very cold environments.

4. Explain How to Dress for Winter

Tell workers what precautions to take to avoid reaching the hypothermic stage. The first defense against hypothermia is to dress warmly. The best way to dress for extreme cold is to put on and peel off layers of clothing.

To make the message personally relevant, conduct a demonstration during your safety talk. As props, bring in a "wardrobe" of clothing that workers should use to stay warm, which would likely include boot liners, special socks, mittens with liners and face masks. You should be able to find what you need in your own closet or at a local thrift store. Of course, the wardrobe you present should be suitable for your own workers and the operations they perform. For example, if your workers work on boats or other marine environments, you might want to bring in wetsuits, ponchos and similar gear.

5. Discuss Risks of Shoveling Snow

Winter means snow and snow means shoveling. Shoveling snow by hand can be extremely dangerous and may lead to back injury and heart attack. Explain the risks to your workers. Demonstrate the recommended practice of pushing rather than lifting snow and taking smaller loads when snow is wet and heavy. Prepare them to recognize the signs and symptoms of heart attack.

6. Provide Equipment Training

Cold weather creates a host of equipment-related dangers. Review the operating manuals and safety precautions for heating devices such as torches used to thaw frozen utilities. Demonstrate the correct operation of snowblowing equipment. Instruct workers to start by doing a circle check to ensure that safety guards are in place. Tell them how to operate snowblowers safely by walking slowly and carefully, keeping away from the discharge opening and watching out for obstacles, such as curbs or tree roots.

7. Stress Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hazards

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a year-round hazard; but it's especially likely to strike in the winter. Discuss the hazards of using fuel-powered heaters in enclosed spaces or buildings. Make sure your workers can recognize the early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to react when those symptoms appear.

8. Warn of Downed Power Lines

High winds, heavy ice or snow, falling trees, mudslides and other winter conditions can knock down electrical lines. Hold a safety meeting about how to stay safe around downed power lines.

9. Discuss Safe Battery Boosting

Using booster cables to start a vehicle with a cold battery is a winter tradition - and a dangerous one. Batteries have been known to explode, causing eye and facial injuries. Make sure your workers know how to protect themselves from battery explosions.

10. Provide Wellness Information

Regular, nutritious meals and sufficient sleep and exercise are important in surviving many things in life, including cold weather exposure. When delivering a talk on cold weather, remember to include a discussion about these good health habits.

Conclusion

It's hard enough to keep workers safe when the weather is on your side. When you add winter conditions, it can seem overwhelming. To help keep your workers safe over the cold months, take the time to prepare safety meetings that are relevant to the workplace, the tasks and the season.

POP QUIZ

What Do You Know About Hypothermia?

By Catherine Jones

QUESTION: How can your workers prevent hypothermia?

ANSWER:

• Drink plenty of liquids, but not alcoholic beverages.
• Wear adequate protective clothing, including a hat, scarf, long-sleeved shirt, mittens (which are warmer than gloves), water-resistant coat and shoes, layers of loose-fitting clothing.
• Remain as dry as possible. If clothing become wet, it should be immediately removed.
• Avoid prolonged exposure to cold weather.

QUESTION: What are some signs and symptoms of hypothermia?

ANSWER:

• Involuntary, excessive shivering
• Confusion
• Drowsiness
• Slurred speech
• Irrational behavior
• Falling to the ground
• Can't walk
• Curls up
• Skin becomes pale
• Dilated pupils
• Decreased pulse rate

QUESTION: What 7 things should be done to help a hypothermia victim?

ANSWER:

1. Move the victim to a warmer environment.
2. Remove wet clothing.
3. Place the victim on a blanket or a warm surface, insulating the body from the cold ground, and wrap in blankets or other warming material.
4. Apply warm compresses to the center of the body - the chest, neck, head and groin.
5. Call for medical aid immediately.
6. Provide warm beverages, such as hot chocolate.
7. Share body heat.

QUESTION: What 5 things should NOT be done to help a hypothermia victim?

ANSWER:

1. Do not apply direct heat, such as hot water or a heating pad.
2. Do not attempt to warm the arms and legs. This can cause cold blood to be forced back toward the heart, lungs and brain.
3. Do not massage or rub the person. People suffering from hypothermia must be handled gently as they're at risk of cardiac arrest.
4. Do not give the person an alcoholic beverage, which lowers the body's ability to retain heat.
5. Do not try to give any beverage to a person who is unconscious.

LAUGHTER AT WORK

10 Things a Safety Trainer Often Hears

By Catherine Jones

Thanks to John Bruce for this submission in response to last week's "10 Things a Safety Trainer Never Hears."

Now, here are 10 things that every safety manager has heard at least once.

1. Why can't we plug the microwave into the surge protector?
2. I don't need to wear gloves for your blood draw - I know you.
3. I do it this way at home all the time.
4. I've been workin' with this stuff for years. Never needed no respirator before you came along.
5. It's only a couple blocks so I don't need my safety belt. Besides, I'm a good driver.
6. Goggles? These new batteries don't explode when you jump start them.
7. Stepstool? Nah - this office chair works just fine.
8. I didn't report the injury because it wasn't that bad.
9. These measures you're recommending would improve safety but we can't afford them.
10. We've told "them" about that problem lots of times but it never gets fixed.

Honorable Mention (and my personal favorite):

Submitted by
John Bruce - Safety Supervisor
Loss Prevention Services
Aurora Health Care

Got a joke or training blooper to share? Send them to catherinej@bongarde.com.

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top