SIGN DESIGN &FABRICATION, INC. Employee(s) works in a wide variety of high temperature environments. Being uncomfortable is not the major problem with working in high temperatures and humidity. Employee(s) who are suddenly required to work in a hot environment face additional, and generally avoidable, hazards to their individual safety and health. The Occupational Safety and Health Act require the Company to provide appropriate training to Employee(s) on preventive measures and adequate protection necessary to prevent heat stress.
Workers who perform hazardous jobs while exposed to temperatures greater than 79o F are known to have high accident rates and suffer from heat stress. Intensive physical activity in high temperature environments results in higher perspiration and heart rates. Long-term exposure of non-acclimatized persons to heat stress is unhealthy and counterproductive. Acclimatizing and educating Employee(s) to work in high temperatures, together with effective engineering control of heat sources, will provide a safe and healthy work environment for the Company’s workforce.
When possible, the Company will schedule heavy tasks and work requiring protective gear for cooler, morning or evening hours. Prolonged, extreme hot temperatures mandate the postponement of nonessential tasks.
The human body, being warm blooded, maintains a fairly constant internal temperature, even though it is being exposed to varying environmental temperatures. To keep internal body temperatures within safe limits, the body must get rid of its excess heat, primarily through varying the rate and amount of blood circulation through the skin and the release of fluid onto the skin by the sweat glands. These automatic responses usually occur when the temperature of the blood exceeds 98.6o F and are kept in balance and controlled by the brain. In this process of lowering internal body temperature, the heart begins to pump more blood, blood vessels expand to accommodate the increased flow, and the microscopic blood vessels (capillaries) which thread through the upper layers of the skin begin to fill with blood. The blood circulates closer to the surface of the skin, and the excess heat is lost to the cooler environment.
If heat loss from increased blood circulation through the skin is not adequate, the brain continues to sense overheating and signals the sweat glands in the skin to shed large quantities of sweat onto the skin surface. Evaporation of sweat cools the skin, eliminating large quantities of heat from the body.
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