As the weather begins to heat up, temperatures have already started to increase. The spring heat is also a big challenge for your scaffolding workers. Read on to find out what you can do to help your scaffolders get through the hotter working days.
The Risks of Heat
No matter what season it is – your workers should always be careful when working with scaffolding. This is especially true when dealing with slippery surfaces and strong winds in spring and summer. Therefore, you should always educate your workers about the risks that the hotter weather brings. Overheating of the body, dehydration through not drinking enough fluids or even slippery hands are all possible risks that your workers will need to be aware of.
Sun Protection
As professional scaffolders, you staff spend most of their day outside exposed to the elements. On one side of the equation, fresh air is really good for health, however, your employees are regularly exposed to the hot weather and UV radiation, especially in true in spring and summer. With the sun’s rays shining down on your staff for hours every day they could easily suffer sunstroke or heatstroke. These two serious conditions can cause irreversible damage and need to be prevented at all costs.
One simple solution that is regularly overlooked is instructing your workers to wear headgear in the heat. Even if your project doesn’t call for wearing a helmet or hardhat, workers can still be protected from sunstroke with a broad brimmed hat with neck protection. Additionally, it’s important to choose the most suitable headgear for the weather. To avoid risks of your workers overheating, using a more breathable option is always good unless the application requires a specific type.
Although many of your workers won’t want to, it’s important you make sunscreen available and ensure they use it! The sunscreen needs to be at least SPF 30+ and your staff should be told to reapply it several times a day to maintain the maximum protection for the sun’s UV rays. Sunburn can be extremely painful and can lead to skin cancer later in life.
Regular Breaks
Your scaffolder use a lot of muscle power when working at heights. The very physical nature of this work increases sweating and can quickly lead to dehydration or heat stroke, especially in the hottest weather. Therefore, it’s important you schedule more regular breaks and have your workers rest in the shade as often as practical. Additionally, water should be provided to your workers so they drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. We especially recommend mineral water or sports drinks as they replace the minerals lost through sweat into your employees’ bodies.
Be Careful In The Heat
If your workers follow all the above precautions but still report feeling unwell, you have a duty of care to make sure they’re ok. Tell them to sit down in a cool and shady place and let your site manager know. When a worker has been affected by the heat, it’s important to look out for the following symptoms:
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Muscle cramps
Contact Complete Scaffold Solutions Today
If you have a project that requires scaffolding, please contact our friendly team today. We can help your business safely assemble and dismantle scaffolding, even in hot weather or under extreme conditions. We offer scaffold hire and you can also buy scaffolding off us. All of our Australian made scaffold is fabricated from quality local materials and we never use cheap imports. We’re nationally known as the leaders in swing stage scaffold and inventors of the NextGen swing stage system. With decades of combined experience in the construction industry, you can trust us to deliver the most effective access solutions at cost-effective rates. For all your scaffold fabrication, hire and sales needs, please contact Complete Scaffold Solutions on 1300 266 777 now!