Tips to keep your workforce performing optimally in cold environments
Keeping people safe on the job requires optimal conditions. Those working in colder indoor or outdoor environments may struggle to stay comfortable. Uncover the impact of cold exposure to improve your workplace with straightforward strategies.
How cold weather affects work performance
Spending time in cold environments affects the body in more than one way. Learning about the factors affecting cold weather is essential for recognizing the effects that might be common at your job.
Air temperature hinders your health
Freezing air causes numerous potential injuries that depend on a person’s exposure. Someone could develop frostbite quickly in a snowstorm, while another person working in a cold warehouse could develop hypothermia without properly insulated clothes.
Knowing the air temperature in your working environment might depend on your job. Compliance standards for the cold supply chain require detailed temperature control logs that may even feature hourly updates. Workers in that environment can always tell the air temperature. Still, anyone working without a temperature gauge may not realize it’s too cold to work until frostbite or hypothermia sets in.
Humidity
Humid winter weather is damp, making clothing absorb more moisture than usual. If outerwear remains wet, it’s not an effective source of insulation. Your working performance could drop if you grow increasingly cold because your jacket, boots and gloves are moist.
Wind speed harms uncovered areas
Combining the air temperature and wind speed creates the wind chill index, which workers can use to determine what they should wear outdoors. Any exposed skin could develop frostbite or lose circulation, preventing you from staying healthy or working well.
Ways to minimize the effects
You don’t have to worry about cold exposure and your team’s performance. Get ahead of weather complications with helpful strategies.
1. Install temperature monitors
Remote temperature devices work indoors and outside. Place one throughout your workspace so no one has to guess at the weather. You could also create team guidance, like using employer-provided hand warmers if the devices read a temperature that makes you uncomfortable. Request feedback from your team about when they need hand warmers, so the rule benefits everyone.
2. Create outerwear standards
Workplace rules could also include outerwear guidelines. Team members might have to start wearing moisture-resistant or snow-proof jackets to prepare for humid days. Knitted fabrics retain heat and manage moisture as well. Your employer could provide knit-lined jackets with wicking exterior fabric for wind and humidity-resistant workwear improvements.
3. Enforce frequent breaks
People might push through uncomfortable side effects of extended cold exposure when they feel their employment is on the line. Workplace leaders should enforce breaks throughout shifts during winter weather. Use the free time to check for symptoms of hypothermia, frostbite or wet clothing. You can make the necessary adjustments to protect your well-being when it’s time to return to your responsibilities.
Reduce cold exposure on the job
Worker performance and health can suffer when people are in cold conditions for too long. Paying attention to temperature, humidity and wind speed is only half the battle. Optimized workplace rules can make people comfortable, so no one gets sick or falls behind in their job.
