In a typical warehouse environment that doesn’t have central air conditioning, summer and even early fall can be a difficult time. People have to do physical jobs under the additional pressure of high temperatures.
The best companies anticipate challenges with summer heat, and work to make sure that they protect the people doing tough warehouse jobs on every shift.
Access to Shade
The warehouse might not have completely climate controlled or air conditioned facilities, but at least you don’t have to have the sun beating down on people as they go about their work. One tip is to cover any major skylights or areas where the sun’s rays can add to the internal temperature of space.
In cases where people do have to work out in the sun, there should be accessible shaded spaces, and specific concrete schedules set for break times where they can go into the shade, not just to protect their skin, but to decrease the body temperature.
Ventilation
These shaded indoor areas have to be properly ventilated. Large industrial fans can bring the temperature down inside a space, but they also ensure that air doesn’t remain stagnant, and that there’s a good amount of fresh air and oxygen in a building.
Cold Water
Another important tip is to have a readily available source of water. Because heat causes us all to sweat, it dehydrates the body fairly quickly. When you want people to be productive and moving around physically in the warehouse, you want to offset that dehydration with clean, cold water. In many real ways, that cold water is the lifeblood of your physical warehouse operations — just like lubrication in an engine or temperature controls for HVAC equipment, that cold water is a major resource for the workforce to prevent overheating and the problems that go along with it.
Break Times
It’s also important to establish work breaks during hot weather. Obviously, workers should always have federally mandated break times, but it’s even more important in the summer heat to make sure people are resting from work at certain intervals.
Putting cold water or shaded break areas in a workspace doesn’t do a thing unless people have the ability to take work breaks in order to enjoy these amenities.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA maintains a campaign around these three major principles in a campaign called “Water – Rest – Shade” showing companies the right ways to handle summer temperatures.
Evaluating Heat’s Physical Pressures
In some cases, workers have borderline health risks that are exacerbated by heat. Someone may have a minor heart condition or other problem that is fairly dormant in regular temperatures, but starts to put a lot of strain on their body under elevated temperatures. Good managers will know when to alter someone’s schedule or change things around to keep everyone healthy and productive in the warehouse space.
Seasonal management is part of overall general management for warehouses. Managers have to know how to deal with the context of the physical jobs that people are doing, and how to make sure they run a quality operation, not just one that accomplishes the objectives of the business’s core issues.
About Full Steam Staffing
Full Steam Staffing is a full-service staffing agency focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are currently looking to hire and grow your workforce, contact our team of skilled recruiters today!