By Doug Freer, CSP
There are a lot of factors we cannot control when we work outdoors in the worst of winter weather. Dedicated snow professionals know that awareness and preparation is the best defense against those variables.
While we can’t control the weather, we can prepare our crews to know and to understand how best to care for themselves and their fellow team members while out in the elements. Making a mistake, which can be costly, is much more likely when we are exhausted after working long hours. Incorporate the following topics into your training to better prepare your crews:
Proper PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) will vary depending on your crew member’s activity. Truck drivers or equipment operators may not need the same caliber of outside weather gear as your hand labor crews. However, anyone operating equipment or working in the elements needs to be properly prepared to avoid injury related to the cold.
Working outdoors without proper protection from the cold, wind and precipitation can further weaken immune systems that may already be under stress. Beyond the need for traditional PPE, such as hearing and eye protection, the goal for winter PPE is warmth. Cold weather can lead to frostbite and hypothermia. Appropriate winter weather gear and awareness of how frostbite and hypothermia can occur will reduce the risk of your staff becoming injured as a result of the cold weather.
*Adapted from: ACGIH Threshold Limit Values, Chemical Substances and Physical Agents Biohazard Indices, 1998-1999.
Nutrition
Eating nutritional foods will give you more energy. Trying to sustain a body for a prolonged period of work on prepackaged snack foods from the convenience store is less than ideal. Prepackaged foods are often heavy in sugar and refined carbohydrates. A quick burst of energy will quickly give way to a feeling of being tired. Instead, prepare fresh vegetables and fruits along with cheese and other natural foods. Keep protein, granola or snack bars on hand in case you run out of fresh food. While stopping for a meal during a storm event is often a good way to get a break from the action, it’s not always possible. To keep up your energy levels, have healthy options available.
Hydration
Drink plenty of fluids to ensure you maintain the natural systems in your body. Mild dehydration can drain energy and make you feel tired. How much water or fluid should you consume? It depends on your age, health, where you live and activity level. The Institute of Medicine has determined that an adequate intake for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages per day. For women it is about 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) per day. Your sidewalk crews, particularly hand labor crews, are likely in need of more fluids than equipment operators, given their increased level of activity.
Drinking water is the best way to stay hydrated. Consider the affects of caffeine in your choice of fluids. Research has shown that there is a diuretic effect if you consume large amounts of caffeine—more than 500 to 600 milligrams (equivalent to 5 to 7 cups of coffee)—per day. Too much can make you jittery, sleepless or anxious. Find the right balance between liquids for the type of work you do and hours you operate.
Proper rest
Your body needs seven to eight hours of rest per day. Studies have shown that less than six hours of sleep per day will triple your risk for a car accident. Sleep has a cumulative effect, which means that if you miss sleep one day, you’ll feel it the next. Miss sleep for several days in a row and you’ll build up a “sleep deficit.” Snow & ice management professionals are prone to building up sleep deficits. Training should include a discussion about getting enough rest prior to being called in for work.
According to the Traffic Research Center, the following occurs when you are sleep deprived:
- Sleeplessness slows your reflexes, reaction time and prevents you from identifying and stopping in times of danger.
- When you are overly tired, your attention span decreases. Most people suffer from a decrease in attention every 90 to 120 minutes; however, sleepiness makes this decrease more pronounced and can cause accidents when you fall asleep at the wheel or you are less aware of your surroundings.
- Sleepiness is very much like being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When you are sleepy, your mental and psychomotor skills diminish. In one study, a group of subjects were kept awake for 28 hours, while another group was given alcoholic beverages every half hour. When both groups were tested for hand-eye coordination, the sleep-deprived subjects performed equally as poor as those with a 0.5 blood alcohol level.
Power naps
Beyond sleep deficits, our body’s natural circadian rhythm is disrupted when working long hours and at night. There are several strategies for dealing with periods when we feel tired and drowsy. Pulling over and taking a brief nap is one option that is often overlooked. In the go-go rush of a long storm event, it may not seem appropriate to stop and recharge the batteries, but it can make all the difference.
When your eyelids begin to feel heavy, you are not alert and are at risk of injuring yourself or others. Stop your vehicle, get out and stretch or get some brief exercise. Grab a snack or something to drink. Or, take a brief nap. A NASA study found that a 40-minute nap increases alertness by 100%. Other studies have found that a 20-minute nap is more effective than 200 mg of caffeine or a quick bout of exercise.
Many experts advise keeping naps between 15 to 30 minutes. Sleeping longer than 30 minutes puts you into a deeper sleep stage, making it more difficult to wake. When you waken from a deeper stage of sleep, you will feel the effects of sleep inertia, which is a physiological state characterized by decreased motor dexterity and feeling of grogginess.
Taking a short power nap will have many positive benefits including increased alertness, improved memory, reduced burnout and overload, reduced stress, heightened senses, and improvement of your health and mood. Factoring short naps and breaks into your staff’s production schedule will help keep your crew and the public safer during long storm events.
Germs are sickening
During a storm, contractors may not have access to facilities to wash their hands, leaving them prone to spreading or catching colds or other illnesses.
Prior to or after a storm event, when servicing trucks and equipment, incorporate the use of antibacterial wipes as a part of the cleaning process. Wipe down steering wheels, plow and equipment controls, door handles and all other items in the cab that crews may touch. Antibacterial wipes and lotion are inexpensive and can be made readily available to your crews to encourage their use when soap and water are not available. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand washing is the most important way to prevent the spread of infections.
Include in your training the importance of good sanitation and how it will help prevent yourself and others from becoming sick. A cold or flu virus will reduce peak performance and may knock some of your staff out of the game so they are not able to work in a storm.
Maintaining safe working conditions is challenging when you consider all the risks inherent with providing snow services. Our responsibility to the public begins with ensuring that we take care of ourselves first.
Douglas Freer, CSP, owns Blue Moose Co., Inc. in Cleveland. Contact him at 216-371-1001.
