How to Safeguard your Workers from Weather Hazards

We’ve touched on the importance of cultivating the right work environment for employees, and the office is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the traditional ‘work environment.’

But in the landscaping and construction industry, your workers work outside, which means weather conditions are going to interfere with your ability to foster the right working environment. We all know certain weather conditions pose a serious risk to our employees’ health and safety. As a result, greater attention needs to be directed towards protecting your outdoor employees from weather and environmental hazards.

What types of weather hazards are your employees exposed to?  

Outdoor workers are exposed to a wide variety of hazards, depending on where they’re working, the season, the time of day and the duration of time they’re working outdoors. During the summer months, workers are at risk to the health effects of extreme heat, such as heat stroke, heat rash and heat exhaustion, as well as ultraviolet (UV) radiation. On the other hand, during the winter months, workers are at risk to the effects of extreme cold, including hypothermia and frost bite.

To address the fact that these hazards are present, your company needs to have policies in place that address weather and environmental hazards, which should include hazard training (so your crew knows to anticipate certain hazards and how to protect themselves from hazardous situations), routine procedures and checklists, as well as emergency practices and procedures (so your workers know how to respond to hazardous situations).

Environmental hazard training should be used to ensure your workers understand what it takes to stay protected in any weather. Training should cover the dangers of working in cold, hot and wet weather. Training should also cover the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent injury or illness from different weather hazards. While there may not be specific health and safety laws in place with regards to weather hazards (check with your local legislation), by law, all employers must provide and train workers on the use of proper PPE (i.e. clothing, safety shoes, hard hats, eye glasses, etc.), especially when working under certain environmental conditions.

Before you send your employees outside to work, make sure you have done your part and carried out the following responsibilities:

• Educate your workers about weather and environmental hazards and the illnesses and injuries that could result if the proper safety measures are not taken to prevent/reduce exposure
• Ensure you are able to recognize the signs and symptoms of weather and environmental-related injuries and illnesses, yourself
• Train your workers on the right use of PPE according to the type of hazard present and make sure you have instructed your workers to wear PPE.
• Schedule work while bearing in mind the time of day, duration of work, and other variables that would increase/decrease the severity of weather and environmental hazards.

 

LMN members have unlimited access to a Systems Library over 600 field-proven procedures and policies, including policies for protecting against health and safety hazards, as well as online training, including various health and safety training courses, such as Hazard Communication and Personal Protective Equipment. The Landscape Management Network gives contractors instant turnkey systems to build a more efficient and profitable landscape business. Visit the Landscape Management Network website for more information.