Summertime. It’s stinkin’ HOT! Get used to it, learn to temper your exposure. I’ve had jobs where there were limits to balance – what needed to be done versus how to do it without getting killed by the heat.
I worked in a lot of refineries. Somebody got the bright idea that flame-retardant clothing would cut down o injuries from fires. That’s a valid thought. Somewhat less valid is the idea that if people working in the proximity to places with HIGH risk of fire should wear full-coverage, long-sleeved flame-retardant clothes, the EVERYBODY should wear them, even in areas that had been drained and cleared of flammables for maintenance work.
Nope. That requires thought. ‘One size fits all’ is easier to implement, so in the summer there are multiple incidents of heat-related incidents, some of which are carefully ‘classified’ to hide the obvious – if you wear full-body coverage in hundred degree heat and then do strenuous physical activity, you’re gonna have ‘incidents’.
I worked in those conditions. In the business I was in – electrical power – there’s a term: Metal-clad outdoor switchgear. That’s little steel buildings housing high voltage power equipment. Since electricity and moisture don’t mix (there ARE exceptions) we had a method to prevent Louisiana’s humidity from deteriorating the insulation – we ran space heaters. Those are electrical devices that produce heat. The idea is that you keep your equipment above the dewpoint at all times, because a little dew and a little dust can make a BIG explosion.
So it wasn’t unusual in July and August to walk up to one of these things, a steel box ten feet tall, sixteen feet wide, forty feet long, open the door, and find temperatures in excess of a hundred forty (I KNOW – I measured) degrees, roll six hundred pound circuit breakers out in to the floor, and work on them.
Physical work. In long-sleeved coveralls. Hundred forty degrees. In July.
Fortunately for me, I was assisted by an electrical contractor’s guys, and they’d bring an Igloo water jug – five gallons of ice water. During the course of the day, I never passed that jug without getting a cup.
I had a little industrial fan to move air inside the building. It helped.
Still, at the end of the day when I got home, two liters of lemonade were first on the agenda.
I learned that MY sign of ‘Dude, you’re heading for heat stroke’ was the feeling of muscles in my back starting to cramp up. Time to grab some water, go crank up the van and work on reports in the air conditioning until things normalized.
We learned to survive.
A few years ago, I got heat exhaustion while putting in food plots for a hunting club. Woke up that night unable to breathe. It looked like a heart attack so off to the ER we went. You know you are in trouble when on a Saturday night the nurses pass up the ten people in front of you ( some visibly bleeding) to put you in a chair and wheel you back to the working area while calling for someone to come NOW! Just a note, those curtains aren’t soundproof, so when the ER doctor tells the nurse to call out the cardiac surgeon and her team and have an OR prepped, your blood pressure is guaranteed to go up.
Fortunately, they corrected the diagnosis before cutting into me. However, I’ve been very susceptible to hear effects ever since. You have to know when to quit. Take care!
RC-
Thanks for the story.
I’ve done the ‘guy of a certain age with chest issues’ in an ER myself.
MC
I worked a big construction ob near Port Arthur a few years ago. On high heat days, we instituted mandatory water and cool down breaks every half hour for all workers. The only heat related incidents we had were people who recognized the onset of symptoms and went to first aid for cool down and hydration. They were all fine.
Because management valued safety over production, we had a good summer (and production took care of itself.)
Spent time working right next to a 800hp Cummins that was turning a huge air compressor and an alternator inside the engine house of a blast hole drill at a copper mine. The bridge rectifier and sink was about 2 foot square and a person had to hold the cabinet doors open with one elbow and the opposite shoulder while working with a Simpson 260 troubleshooting all the controls etc. for the drill motor. This was August in AZ. and you would go outside where it was 110+ just to catch your breath. We tag teamed the jobs when they happened and we would go through several of those Igloo coolers if it was a difficult problem.
jack
Theoretically, even the offices in a petrochemical facility have the potential of a flash fire. That’s why I think it’s safer for all those that work in this area to work flame retardant clothing, safety goggles, gloves, steel toed boots, ear muffs, and be shown the gate for failing to wear their PPE’s.
One other thing: flammable gas circulated throughout a building, with a closed HVAC system, can increase the danger. The best solution to this safety issue is to turn off the system, and open the windows. I’m sure the safety officials would agree.
Jess-
I used to chuckle at the women who worked at offices inside the refinery as they navigated into the plant clad in Nomex coveralls and heels. Safety shoes weren’t a requirement. Neither were hard hats. But they had to wear the stupid coveralls.
I work at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard an occasionally in Guam (I go back for another 5 ½ weeks tomorrow) testing and fixing the submarines missile tubes. While testing the tubes one day, we measured the temperature topside. 140 Degrees in the sun. I refuse to work topside unless I have a roof over my head and I bring bottle water and ice for the troops.
I don’t want heat issues with the men and women working for me.