SAFETY TIPS
How Can We Protect Workers From Cold Stress?
When the body is exposed to cold temperatures and is unable to warm itself, serious cold-related illnesses and injuries may occur, and permanent tissue damage and death may result. Frostbite typically occurs outside in cold weather, but it can also occur inside when workers without gloves handle cold materials, such as gases under pressure. Hypothermia can occur when land temperatures are above freezing or water temperatures are below 98.6° F (37°C). Cold related illnesses can slowly overcome a person who has been chilled by low temperatures, brisk winds, or wet clothing.
Signs of Frostbite
Freezing in deep layers of skin and tissue occurs; the skin will look pale, white, waxy, or grayish-yellow. The skin becomes hard and numb; it usually affects the fingers, hands, toes, feet, ears and nose.
What Should Be Done?
- Move the person to a warm dry area. Don’t leave the person alone.
- Phone or ask someone to call 911 or other emergency number.
- Remove any wet or tight clothing, rings or bracelets from the frostbitten part.
- DO NOT rub the affected area, because rubbing causes damage to the skin and tissue.
- Gently place the affected area in a warm water bath (105°F) and monitor the water temperature to slowly warm the tissue. Don’t pour warm water directly on the affected area because it will warm the tissue too fast causing
tissue damage. Warming takes about 25-40 minutes.
- After the affected area has been warmed, it may become puffy and blister. The affected area may have a burning feeling or numbness. When normal feeling, movement, and skin color have returned, the affected area
should be dried and wrapped to keep it warm.
NOTE: If there is a chance the affected area may refreeze, do not warm the skin. If the skin is warmed and then becomes cold again, it will cause severe tissue damage. If you are close to a medical facility, do not try to thaw the frozen part.
- Seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Signs of Hypothermia (Low Body Temperature)
Normal body temperature (98.6°F/37°C) drops to or below 95°F (35°C); fatigue or drowsiness; uncontrolled shivering (shivering stops when the body temperature drops below 90° F); skin is cool to the touch and appears blue; slurred speech; muscles become stiff and rigid; irritability, or confusion. As the victim’s body temperature drops they may stop responding, breathing slows and may be imperceptible, and the victim may appear to be dead.
What Should Be Done?
- Phone for emergency help.
- Move the person to a warm, dry area. Don’t leave the person alone. Remove any wet clothing and give the victim warm drinks if they are alert. Avoid drinks with caffeine or alcohol. Put blankets or towels under and around the victim, and cover the head but not the face.
- Have the person move their arms and legs to create muscle head. If they are unable to do this, place warm bottles or hot packs in the arm pits, groin, neck, and head areas. DO NOT rub the person’s body or place them in a warm water bath. This may stop their heart.
- It is important to get the victim to medical care as soon as possible.
What Should Be Done for Cold Water Temperatures?
- Phone for emergency help. Body heat is lost up to 25 times faster in water.
- DO NOT remove any clothing. Button, buckle, zip and tighten any collars, cuffs, shoes, and hoods because the layer of trapped water closest to the body provides a layer of insulation that slows the loss of heat. Keep the head out of water and put on a hat or hood.
- Get out of the water as quickly as possible or climb on anything floating. DO NOT attempt to swim unless a floating object or another person can be reached because swimming or other physical activity uses the body’s heat and reduces survival time by about 50 percent.
- If getting out of the water is not possible, wait quietly and conserve body heat by folding arms across the chest, keeping thighs together, bending knees, and crossing ankles. If another person is in the water, huddle together with chests held closely.
Submitted by
Sharon Roman
Regulatory Compliance Consultants, Inc.
OSHA Outreach Instructor
American Heart Association Instructor Trainer
For more information or questions concerning this article, contact our office at 419-882-9224.
Previous Tips
- November 2009 - OSHA’s Revised Acetylene Standard
- Summer 2009 - First Aid in the Workplace
- December 2008 - UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS)
- August 2008 - Preventing Heat Stress
- July 2008 - OSHA Beefs-Up Electrical Standard Requirements for General Industry
- March 2008 - OSHA’s Proposed Budget For FY 2009
- January 2008 - Revised Personal Protective Equipment Standard
- November 2007 - Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking changes
- October 2007 - APPENDIX A. Practice Recommendations for Health-Care Facilities Implementing the U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for Management of Occupational Exposures to Bloodborne Pathogens
- September 2007 - Changes to the Personal Protective Equipment Standards
- August 2007 - Heat Stress Guidance
- July 2007 - HAS YOUR COMPANY BEEN TARGETED?
- June 2007 - OSHA’s Revised Electrical Standards To Take Effect August 13 - expanded
- May 2007 - OSHA’s Revised Electrical Standards To Take Effect August 13
- April 2007 - WORKPLACE EMERGENCIES
- December 2006 - TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES – WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
- November 2006 - New OSHA Regulations Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) Employee Workplace Exposure, 1910.1026
- October 2006 - ARE YOU SAFE FROM AN OSHA INSPECTION?