Measures to make workers more comfortable in hot weather
In factories on the shop floor the heat can get very uncomfortable so I wondered in the absence of any possibility of having air conditioning what measures can we take to make things a bit more comfortable for workers without compromising the safety of food or food packaging.
Regards,
Simon
In the UK right now we are having a heat wave with temperatures over 30C every day for the last week or so. As a nation we cannot cope with these adverse weather conditions. All year we moan about the horrible, damp, cold and miserable weather and then when we get a bit of sunshine what do we do…moan!
In factories on the shop floor the heat can get very uncomfortable so I wondered in the absence of any possibility of having air conditioning what measures can we take to make things a bit more comfortable for workers without compromising the safety of food or food packaging.
Regards,
Simon
In my country there are 2 weather conditions 1 is hot and another is very hot, in factories where there is boiler, cooking vessels and other heat exchange process equipments and no air-conditioning we will provide some ventilation in form of fans & exhaust system -
- In the operation / workers area we install/fix wall mounted fans or we use table/mobile fans
- every 1/2 - 1 hour we will supply cold water and sometimes lemonade.
- Exhaust fan/system at the appropriate place, to draw air out of a place, as out of a room in ventilating it.
- flexible cotton coveralls / dresses.
Seriously, every time we've had a summer like this when I've been working in the chilled industry, the air con breaks down. So much so, I've never been able to get away from the "when the air con breaks, this is what you do..." procedure.
It's not the heat so much as the humidity. For us, we don't have as much of an issue in the factory right now (when the air con works) but we are getting higher absence. I suppose it's a combination of the people swinging the lead and wanting to be out in the sun and also being incredibly hard to sleep, particularly on shifts. Open a window to keep cool in the day, then the lawnmowers and hayfever starts... It just grinds people down and they get ill or tired (and claim they're ill.) So I think it's more than a work conditions issue, it's a motivation issue. How do we keep people on track? I'm not sure.
Early in the morning when we got dressed, it was around 18°C. Basically, all these clothes gave us a sort of thermos effect, so you could retain a somewhat lower than ambient temperature inside your clothes. Maybe not so recommendable when you work the afternoon and night shift, since temperatures during the afternoon or in the evening might still be high.
Believe it or not, the only day we were allowed to wear shorts, it felt much hotter than with the uniform.
Maybe shorts and a cotton t shirt under a lab coat?
Definitely have enough breaks and have people drink water often. Dehydration is enough to give you terrible headaches and make you feel tired.
In the UK right now we are having a heat wave with temperatures over 30C every day for the last week or so. As a nation we cannot cope with these adverse weather conditions. All year we moan about the horrible, damp, cold and miserable weather and then when we get a bit of sunshine what do we do…moan!
In factories on the shop floor the heat can get very uncomfortable so I wondered in the absence of any possibility of having air conditioning what measures can we take to make things a bit more comfortable for workers without compromising the safety of food or food packaging.
Regards,
Simon
Definitely well said by everyone,
- Clothing does matter. (Shorts/Bermudas, cotton t-shirts/blouses under a coverall/lab coat)
- Few short breaks to relax, have a some drink / refreshment
- Some motivational exercises time to time.
Here is a word of advise from Greece, where the temperature during summer reaches 40-45 oC and the relative humidity can be around 40-60 %. And don't think that everyone has an air-conditioning installed...
The night before going to sleep take a lukeworm shower - not a cold one, because then your body will be "shocked" from the temperature difference.
Keep a bottle of fresh tea with LEMON with you -WITH NO SUGAR. Also forget all sodas and colas which contain a lot of sugar.
Lemon is refreshing and thirst-fighting.
Sugar increases body metabolism and makes us feel hot.
Take a few small light meals every now and then, including mostly fruits and vegetables.
Drink as much water as you can - but NOT COLD. A glass of cold water is like a bunch on your stomach - also, it gives you a momentary pleasure and then you feel hotter than before.
- Alcohol is absolutely forbidden.
Ware light-coloured clothes made of "natural" raw material - cotton and linen will do.
Try to move as less as possible.
Don't forget to wear a hat and sunglasses when you go out. If you feel disy or you cannot see clearly, do NOT hesitate to call for help - these are the first signs of thermal shock.
I hope this are helpful.
Best Regards
(melting) Kelly B - Greece
Sorry, couldn´t resist!
And the good old Health & Safety Executive: Information about how the temperature of the environment you work in can affect you, and advice on how to manage it
Regards,
Simon
Hi all,
I know this is quite an old topic, but I'm just curious if there have been any advances since the time this post was made. We're still struggling with the same issues in our plant as others have described in this post. During the summer, we're probably between 35C and 45C with humidity added on top. We have some operations that require steam to heat jacketed vessels, and we also have some processes where we fill product at or above 65C (which in turn creates high heat in our facility). The area where this is an issue is of course not air conditioned, nor is there a way to put in an exhaust system because of the location of the area.
Our employees are required to wear a uniform, which typically includes a short-sleeved t-shirt, khakis, and steel-toed boots. Shorts are not allowed for safety/GMP purposes. We have industrial sized floor fans in most of those locations, which really do nothing but blow around hot air. We also allow something similar to gatorade to be consumed (not at the production line - of course) to prevent dehydration. Our employees are typically free to drink water as they please, throughout the day, as long as there is coverage by another employee while they take care of their needs. We've been asked about the use of cooling towels - which I feel would be a food safety issue (not cleaned by our uniform company -- so how would you know that the employee has a clean cooling towel -- and how would you know that the moisture on the towel is water rather than sweat), so we haven't implemented this. Now our employees are cutting cardboard boxes, and fanning themselves with this material during summer months. We have found that they take the cardboard, cut a hole in it, and then hang it near them. This would lead to not using packaging for its intended purpose.
Does anyone have any suggestions that stem from new improvements and inventions that still manage to keep us compliant with GMPs and GFSI standards?
QAGB
Snowcones for everyone!
I'm late to the party but does anyone have any thoughts on cooling towels if they are tucked into the shirt not just dangling about? We do water, fans, frequent breaks, and Gatorade but our facility is hotter than hot. You can feel the thickness of the humidity in the air and the bakery is hanging at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite our best efforts we have had 3 people pass out. The rest of the week is supposed to be even worse. I'm really at a loss.
Not sure if this would work in your situation but on the days that we know the heat will be extreme, we try to bring the team in earlier so that they can get the majority of their work done before the heat hits its maximum. This helps our employees stay cool but it also helps with our equipment since our water cooler tower tends to not be able to cool water enough for equipment to work.
No issue with the towels as long as they are kept as sanitary as the uniforms are
Time to start investing in hvac for the entire facility---this kind of whether is not going away-- or change working hours if possible
I agree this kind of weather isn't going away, because well, it's always been here, lol. It's a hot summer but people around here are acting like it's never been above 90 in MI. I remember summers much hotter than this when I was a kid, much hotter. Just talked to my buddy in AZ and he said the same thing.
Much like Simon says, people here whine all winter about the cold and snow, only to downshift to complaining about heat in the summer, lol. Gotta love it.
We are lucky and don't have any heat in our process. We have ac now, but we didn't when I started here and we did have to take precautions against the heat. Back then we kept everyone well hydrated, and slowed down the process somewhat so everyone didn't get overworked. We took more breaks, and if hot enough did the chilled wet towel thing. If someone was too hot we'd let them into the ac in the lab to chill out a while.
We also had to protect the products and we would use dry ice in the mixers to keep heavy mixes from literally cooking themselves as they mixed. Have to keep an eye on certain ingredients too as some like to clump in heavy humidity, etc.
Myself, I live lakeside. So I'll be thinking of all you poor overheated peeps this afternoon while I'm floating in my bay on an inflatable flamingo with a frozen margarita in my hand.
Anyone is welcome to join me!
I'm late to the party but does anyone have any thoughts on cooling towels if they are tucked into the shirt not just dangling about? We do water, fans, frequent breaks, and Gatorade but our facility is hotter than hot. You can feel the thickness of the humidity in the air and the bakery is hanging at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite our best efforts we have had 3 people pass out. The rest of the week is supposed to be even worse. I'm really at a loss.
At a facility with huge blast freezers and employees having to work in them all day (-20 F) - they provide a warming room for employees. So maybe more frequent breaks in a cool environment.
Dehumidifiers? It's hard with ovens but maybe in certain areas, you can provide relief.
This was mentioned on the radio when I was coming into work today.
I also found this. Not sure if either one works or not
Not sure if this would work in your situation but on the days that we know the heat will be extreme, we try to bring the team in earlier so that they can get the majority of their work done before the heat hits its maximum. This helps our employees stay cool but it also helps with our equipment since our water cooler tower tends to not be able to cool water enough for equipment to work.
Unfortunately we work 24/7 small-ish production facility. But I will keep this in mind as we are planning to expand soon which may reduce the need to produce round the clock.
No issue with the towels as long as they are kept as sanitary as the uniforms are
Time to start investing in hvac for the entire facility---this kind of whether is not going away-- or change working hours if possible
We are investing in expanding right now. Maybe I can throw that out there for the new facility. More temperature controlled environment and we can get it in from the start. at this moment its not possible.
How you feel about the towels is the same as my thinking on it. Thank you.
At a facility with huge blast freezers and employees having to work in them all day (-20 F) - they provide a warming room for employees. So maybe more frequent breaks in a cool environment.
Dehumidifiers? It's hard with ovens but maybe in certain areas, you can provide relief.
I totally failed to think of a dehumidifier thanks! The humidity (in my opinion) is always worse.
This was mentioned on the radio when I was coming into work today.
I also found this. Not sure if either one works or not
These will certainly not be approved due to cost but how cool are those!! Pun intended :giggle: Really really interesting option. I knew about heated coats and such but not cooling ones!