The employees working in cold storage environments are often at risk of cold stress. That’s why they need the right personal protective equipment (PPE), like a half face mask, to prevent themselves from hypothermia, frostbite, and even death.
According to experts, a cold environment is one where our body faces the loss of normal body heat from within. Without any appropriate gear to compensate for the losses, workers may get the onset of cold stress due to local cooling. This includes respiratory tract cooling, extremity, contact cooling, and wind chill. So, the longer the cold temperature exposure, the higher the chances of hypothermia, frostbite, or death.
Cold stress and cold-related illnesses:
Cold stress-related illnesses include frostbite, hypothermia, and even death. The factors that enhance the chances of cold stress range from unfitness to not wearing proper gear. For instance, if someone wears badly maintained protective clothes, equipment, and footwear, they are likely to be more vulnerable to cold stress.
The symptoms of cold stress are increased breathing, shivering, higher pulse rate, increased blood pressure, etc. If it continues, eventually the brain, liver, and nervous system start to reduce their normal function.
Extremities, like feet, hands, face, and feet, may also face the impact of frostbite. It further leads to the freezing of skin and body tissues. These are often recognized as grey-white patches along with aching, hardness, numbness, tingling, and blisters on the impacted areas.
Gradually, when one’s body temperature goes below 35°C, they are affected with hypothermia. When the situation gets more severe, a person may lack consciousness and ultimately die.
Pros of PPE for cold storage environments
To combat the impact of cold stress on individuals, they need the right PPE gear. Here are various benefits of distinct PPE gear and clothing to prevent cold stress:
Clothing:
The protective clothing must be well-fitted, insulated, visible, durable, and water-resistant. Furthermore, it helps workers to stay warm in a cold environment.
Face Mask:
Using a half face mask or P3 dust mask can help in preventing cold air from entering your mouth and nose. It also helps in retaining warm body heat, as your mouth and nose remain closed during respiration.
Boots:
Workers need well-insulated boots that are warm and water-resistant. The boots need to be flexible and anti-slip too to prevent injuries.
Headgear:
A knitted beanie along with an insulated jacket is a must to protect ears and neck. The headgear benefits in keeping the head and ears warm. But it must not obstruct any eye and hearing gear.
Gloves:
Workers must wear gloves to keep their hands warm and protected from frostbite. It also prevents hands from accidents and getting cold.
Ear plugs
Along with headgear, it is vital to wear reusable earplugs to prevent cold air from entering your body. Hence, it adds up to insulation while keeping your ears protected from harsh cold environments.
Cons of PPE in Cold Environment
Despite offering many benefits, many employees avoid wearing PPE due to the following disadvantages:
- The PPE becomes too uncomfortable to wear in cold environments, as it restricts movement.
- It decreases work productivity by making it difficult to do certain tasks.
- It may not fit everyone properly.
- Some workers find it unattractive while wearing it.
- It may restrict breathing if the face mask is too tight or ill-fitted.
Encouraging the Use of PPE in Cold Environment
It is essential to use PPE for workers in a safe workplace. The employers must not only legally, but also ethically make sure to provide all the safety gear, like PPE to all the workers.
According to the national safety guidelines, here’s how employers need to encourage the use of PPE in cold environments:
- They need to make workers understand the importance of PPE. On understanding why it’s beneficial to wear PPE, workers will be committed to using it. So, owners, safety managers, and supervisors must clearly explain the dangers of a cold work environment. Furthermore, they need to explain the results of non-compliance.
- Take employee input too. When encouraging workers to wear PPE kits for safety, do take their input too. If employees start liking their PPE, they will be more committed to using it. Plus, make sure the PPE is comfortable to wear so that no one refrains from wearing it.
- Show how to properly use PPE. Show the employees the right way to use PPE. This way the workers will understand the right way to use gear while keeping them protected from cold stress.
Conclusion
There are certainly many benefits that overcome the few cons of wearing PPE in a cold environment. To ensure the workers wear the PPE for safety, the company managers and owners must wear those themselves in the field. When management takes PPE seriously, even the workers will do the same. Keeping all the given information in mind, do make PPE a standard part of your cold environment workplace to ensure optimum protection and safety.
