Wednesday, December 02, 2015
How to Stay Safe and Stay Warm This Winter
Occupational Health & Safety: Winter is coming, when the annual battle to keep warm during the coldest months of the year begins. If you're lucky enough to work in a climate-controlled environment or in warmer temperatures, cold weather may seem like a foreign nuisance. But for thousands of us, managing the cold is a harsh reality.
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As much as we complain and moan about the long hours and tireless work of theater, we take having a heated theater for granted. That being said, the space may not be the warmest thing ever, but even some resemblance of a heating system is miles ahead of one that is not. As someone who has a pretty solid understanding of wilderness survival techniques, the article captured my attention. One part that especially interested me was the section on Clo value. I would like some more detail on that aspect though. It's not a widely known scale, and a little bit more explanation / more examples I think would have benefitted the article. When it comes down to the actual PPE that you should theoretically be wearing on the job, I completely agree with the article that the base layer is the most important. Yes, you are effectively building off of that, but if you're not comfortable with that part of your outfit, then adding all the jackets in the world is not going to help. And once people feel uncomfortable, their productivity drops.
I wish the article went into greater depth about types of materials that have the sort of safe-yet-insulating properties this article is suggesting we look at, however it's becoming increasingly apparent to me that OHS seems to intentionally shy away from specific recommendations, presumably so they aren't seen as either favoring one material/manufacturer over another or unintentionally introducing a standard for which fabric is good what type of hazard.
Other than that, though, I agree that layering seems like the best way to combat the multiple dangers present when working in the elements. When I was a ski instructor, we always had four or five layers on, with one waterproof layer on top, and another one about halfway down. That way, when we were running up and down with the small children, we could take a couple layers off when we got too hot, but still be waterproof. Another thing I wish the article mentioned is the increased potential for winter layers getting caught in machinery. We never wore scarves, because we interacted with Magic Carpets and Chair Lifts, and the potential strangulation risk was very real.
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