Working in warehouses with heat sources can cause painful injuries–and in some rarer cases–even death.
Warehouses are quite susceptible to overheating due to their size.
It’s easy for heat to get trapped in the facility–and if there’s poor air circulation–it can be very hard to get out. This makes heat injuries a very prevalent and real threat to workers’ health and safety.
So if you’re concerned about your safety as it pertains to working in a warehouse, we’ve got you covered. Here are 5 ways to avoid heat injuries.
- Education Prevents Heat Injuries
It’s important to first educate yourself. Learn about machinery heat prevention, what causes workers to overheat, as well as the symptoms of heatstroke.
Learning how to prevent warehouse injuries begins with education. And by understanding all of these little details, you will be in a much better position to help yourself as well as others.
- Get the Right Type of Protection
Figuring out how to avoid heat injuries can be done by having the right protection. Simple things like having enough water, carrying a portable fan, or even using a safety throw blanket can all go a long way.
Quite often, it’s these easy and common sense things that are the best answers for how to prevent injuries. So don’t skip or ignore them.
Because by taking these precautions, you will ensure that you can go home safely at the end of each workday.
- Wear Light Clothing
The body cools itself off through sweating. As the sweat evaporates from your skin, it regulates your temperature, causing your body to cool down.
However, this process is impeded if you’re wearing heavy, dark, and thick clothing. The sweat can’t evaporate efficiently if it’s covered up with those types of garments.
So be sure that you’re wearing light, breathable, and brightly colored clothes. This will alleviate a lot of the stress that comes with overheating in a hot warehouse.
- Stay Hydrated
Dehydration can negatively impact your mental abilities, as well as your physical performance in as little as a couple of hours. This makes you more prone to mistakes and impairments on the job.
If you want to know how to prevent injuries in an overheated warehouse–stay hydrated.
Have easy access to ice-cold water in cooled areas away from the heat sources if possible.
- Circulation For Proper Air-Flow
When looking for how to prevent warehouse heat injuries, the proper circulation of air is your best bet. Turn on all the fans (provided your workplace has them), or bring some of your own, if needed.
When the air doesn’t move, it settles in and stagnates; this creates more humidity and makes things even worse.
It’s important to keep the air moving and circulating to provide fresh and cool temperatures throughout the facility.
Eliminating Heat Injuries
Dealing with heat injuries in a hot warehouse comes down to controlling the controllables. It’s about doing all you can to ensure your environment is conducive to healthy and safe working conditions.
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