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Iowa Worker Safety

February 28th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) wants employees and employers to be aware of weather-related risk factors. Cold stress and even hypothermia are risks to those who work outdoors even when temperatures are mild. Weather conditions need not be extreme to cause injury, illness, and even death.

Even relatively mild weather can pose a threat to Iowa worker safety. While emergency services personnel are most affected by the weather hazards they confront, other industries have employees at risk too. These industries include agriculture, landscaping, construction, forestry, and roadwork. Workers in these fields need to know how the danger occurs and how to take precautions to prevent them. It’s even more important to know how to end the risk of cold stress quickly, once a worker is exposed.

Four critical factors to consider are air temperature, wind, dampness, and contact with cold water or other chilly substances. Cold stress and hypothermia can occur when these factors combine for prolonged periods even when the temperature is as warm as 50 degrees.

Wind chill is an important factor to take into consideration for outdoor worker safety. Wind chill is determined by comparing air temperature to wind speed. Workers must be aware that wind chill is a much more accurate measure of risk than air temperature alone.

As an example, if the air temperature is 40 degrees and wind speed is 35 miles per hour, the wind chill factor is 11 degrees. The worker’s exposed skin will react to the climate as if it is 11 degrees outside. Once the worker’s skin becomes cold enough, physiological changes will occur in the body’s effort to maintain a healthy body temperature.

When the risk of wind chill is combined with dampness, the risk to the worker becomes even more threatening. It can become vitally important for the worker to find dry clothing as soon as possible to avoid the onset of cold stress or hypothermia.

Hypothermia is an extreme case of cold stress and can occur when the temperature is as high as 50 degrees outside if the other risk factors are present. Hypothermia occurs when the body’s core temperature drops to 95 degrees. If the body temperature continues to drop, unconsciousness occurs at 85 degrees and death will occur once body temperature reaches 78 degrees.