Speaking of Safety
Heat related illness is a concern in any weather – anywhere! As we are in the dog days of summer, working in abnormally hot conditions offers up an all too common set of conditions to guard against… heat related illnesses.
2 of the most common heat related illnesses are Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke.
Many of the doctors and experts say that we need to drink two to two and a half liters of water each and every day. That’s about a half a gallon, to a little bit more than a half a gallon, of liquids a day. Now that is just for when we are at normal activity that doesn’t include if we were out in the sun, playing sports, or doing any other type of strenuous activity. Obviously when those things happen we need to increase that amount of liquid.
Unfortunately, most people wait until they’re thirsty to take a drink. But the truth is that if you’re feeling thirst, you’re already in a slightly dehydrated state. Catching dehydration early is key to addressing it before it has an impact on cognitive and physical function. Luckily, there are many other signs workers and their supervisors can be on the lookout for.