Severe Winter Weather Brings Workplace Safety Concerns

In the wake of winter storms thousands of businesses, schools and government offices face the challenge of cleaning up significant ice and snowfall and trying to return to operation. For many of these employers, the unusual days ahead may require special attention to workplace safety issues. Storm cleanup poses significant hazards that must be addressed. Employees may be asked to perform tasks or volunteer to undertake certain responsibilities that are not within their regular job duties. In the hurry to get our communities up and moving again, many unfamiliar hazards can be easily overlooked by employers and employees. Even in these extraordinary circumstances, employers are responsible for the safety and health of their employees in the workplace and must take measures to prevent injury and illness.

Additionally, winter weather creates a variety of hazards that can significantly impact everyday tasks and work activities. These hazards include slippery roads/surfaces, strong winds and environmental cold.

Cleanup Often Involves Unfamiliar Tasks and Hazards

Cleanup and recovery work presents a wide range of hazards that must be addressed by employers. Given that these hazards are unlikely to be the type regularly present in work environments, employers must pay special attention to winter storm cleanup activities and plan accordingly. Many of the hazards at issue can be minimized by knowledge, safe work practices and personal protective equipment. Before allowing or instructing employees to begin cleanup after a winter storm, each worksite and activity needs to be assessed to ensure the safety and health of employees.

Hazard Assessment and Protective Measures

The hazards posed by winter storm cleanup and recovery work may include illness from exposure to the elements and/or cold stress, downed electrical wires, carbon monoxide and electrical hazards from portable generators, fall and “struck-by” hazards from ice, heavy snow, falling trees or working at heights, hazards posed by being caught in unprotected excavations or confined spaces, lacerations, musculoskeletal injuries, and being struck by traffic or heavy equipment.

Protective measures should involve:

• Evaluating every work area for all hazards.
• Heeding all warnings and alerts from emergency management officials.
• Consulting with local emergency management and utilities.
• Task-specific hazard exposure monitoring where necessary.
• Engineering or work practice controls to mitigate hazards.
• Supplying and requiring appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Assuming all power lines are live.
• Using portable generators and other cleanup equipment correctly.
• Using proper precautions in traffic work zones.

No winter storm cleanup activity should be permitted where the hazards are unknown and cannot be properly addressed. When in doubt, do not permit employees to take on cleanup responsibilities and enlist the aid of qualified contractors.

Cold Stress

Even where there has not been significant snow fall or ice accumulation, environmental cold has the potential to adversely affect any employee exposed to extreme cold air temperatures and potentially puts them at risk of cold stress. According to OSHA, “as wind speed increases, it causes the cold air temperature to feel even colder, increasing the risk of cold stress to exposed workers, especially those working outdoors, such as recreational workers, snow cleanup crews, construction workers, police officers and firefighters. Other workers who may be affected by exposure to environmental cold conditions include those in transit, baggage handlers, water transportation, landscaping services, and support activities for oil and gas operations.”

Although there is no federal OSHA standard that covers working in cold environments, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970, employers have a duty to protect workers from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm in the workplace. OSHA views cold stress as one such hazard.

Employers should be aware of the risk factors for cold stress and train their supervisors and employees accordingly. They are:

• Wetness/dampness, dressing improperly, and exhaustion.
• Predisposing health conditions such as hypertension, hypothyroidism, and diabetes.
• Poor physical conditioning.

OSHA also advises that a cold stress training program should include the following:

• How to recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that can lead to cold stress.
• The symptoms of cold stress, how to prevent cold stress, and what to do to help those who are affected.
• How to select proper clothing for cold, wet, and windy conditions.
• Employers should:
• Monitor workers physical condition.
• Schedule frequent short breaks in warm dry areas, to allow the body to warm up.
• Schedule work during the warmest part of the day.
• Use the buddy system (work in pairs).
• Provide warm, sweet beverages. Avoid drinks with alcohol.
• Provide engineering controls such as radiant heaters.

All outdoor work requires proper preparation, especially in severe winter weather conditions. Employers who regularly have employees working outside should take special care during and following extreme weather to ensure that all tasks and worksites are evaluated for hazards, and that the appropriate training and protective measures are in place.