Timely Tips For Winter Safety: Protect Your Employees From Chilling Winter

Winter starts with some excessively cold climates, cold snowy air, and chilly weather. This season is really great for enjoying quality time with your friends and family while sitting beside a hot furnace. However, your employees may need to work under excessively cold climates in order to execute some day-to-day tasks. In this context, it becomes absolutely essential to understand the potential risks which come with working outside in the frosty cold weather. Cold air, snow, and water not only draw heat from your body but also it forces your body to work even harder in order to maintain the internal body temperature. Failure to understand and prepare timely for the winter dangers can really pose great risks to those people whose jobs keep them outdoors for most of the time.

However, with proper planning and appropriate training, employers can definitely help keep their workers (both indoor and outdoor) safe during chilly winter. Planning for working in cold weather (especially during the early morning and late in the evening), wearing suitable clothing, and being aware of how your body naturally reacts during this time are utterly important to prevent the serious health conditions including cold stress that generally occurs when your body can no longer keep/maintain the normal body temperature. Other common problems that are also caused by the excessive cold include frostbite, hypothermia, and trench foot.

Protective clothing is the best and the most important way to stay safe & productive when working under the frosty winter climates. However, there are some useful first aid tips which can also protect your employees from cold.

Here are some important tips for outfitting your employees for cold weather work. Here's a brief description of various useful safety measures and first aid tips that can surely protect your employees from severe cold weather.

1. Train Your Employees

Educating your employees on recognizing various winter related hazards is absolutely essential for preventing all the cold-induced illnesses and injuries. At a minimum, any particular cold weather training should include educating the employees about "cold stress." The most common cold stress injuries include frostbite, trench foot, and hypothermia, all of which usually occur when their skin & internal body temperature drop extremely low. Plus, cold stress can cause massive tissue damage & possibly death. Hence, employers should train their valuable employees to recognize the possible signs of cold stress, that further include uncontrollable shivering, fatigue, slurred speech, confused behavior, and impaired motor skills etc.

2. Wear Multi-layered Clothing

Undoubtedly, protective clothing is one of the best ways to ensure that your employees are pretty safe in a wintry climate. Advise them to wear some multiple layered clothing as these can provide them a better insulation.

3. Wear Thermal-Insulated Coveralls

Ask your employees to use some thermal-insulated coveralls. They can easily purchase these coveralls from any online first-aid store. The first-aid coveralls are designed to largely eliminate core body heat loss while allowing a great range of motion.

4. Wear Knitted First-Aid Tubes

These first-aid tubes will perfectly fit over a hard hat for providing a better wind resistant. The knitted full face style first aid tubes will shield the cold air from entering into the ears, face, forehead, and neck.

5. Wear First-Aid Sherpa Liners

These liners generally have two layers, including a Sherpa inner liner and a cotton outer shell. These liners offer an enhanced shoulder-length protection from the cold climate.

6. Use Safety Gloves

Choosing appropriate safety gloves are extremely important to ensure that your employees are safe in chilling cold of winter. The advanced safety gloves are available with a Thinsulate lining which ensures a rubberized and water-resistant palm.

7. Wear First-Aid Fleece Liners For Your Palm

Apart from wearing first-aid gloves, if you want to have an additional protection for your hands, wear a fleece liner on top of your hand. These fleece liners are delicate, smooth, and super soft. They are pretty easy to wear. Plus, they'll give you a comfortable feeling; your palm will never feel too sticky or sweaty. Your employees can easily purchase a fleece liner from any offline retailer or online first-aid store. These first-aid fleece liners are available in multiple ranges, sizes, and standard.

8. Wear Wraparound For Eye Protection

This is an absolutely essential first-aid safety equipment. The wraparound for eye protection also helps to preserve the internal body temperature. They can even help by preventing the eyes from drying out due to excessive cold, dry air & wind.

9. Prevent Slips - Wear Insulated Boots

Make sure that your outdoor workers wear a pair of insulated winter boots. The insulated & waterproof boots will protect their feet from cold and prevent the chances of getting slipped.

10. Wear First Aid Stockings

Wearing a pair of double-layered thermal sock or stockings will add an enhanced protection to the feet. The first-aid stockings can also heal any common injury such as sprain or strain that happens due to sudden or violent movements. Take Your Immediate Action As you've now discovered the fundamental first-aid tips on how to protect your employees from cold, hence perform the subsequent actions further in order to ensure a complete workplace winter safety, for example, search for a reliable supplier who can supply the aforementioned first-aid equipment in your locality, identify the appropriate yet utmost necessary winter safety equipment for your employees, and purchase those products for them in order to keep your employees safe, protected, and productive during winter.