As CEO of the Snow and Ice Management Association, Martin Tirado is particularly empathetic toward outdoor workers who have to brave winter weather.
His Mequon, WI-based organization offers a personal protective equipment checklist to its members and instructs them on how long their workers should stay out in cold conditions before taking an all-important break.
“Typically – and it kind of depends on the temperature – but out of one hour of work, 15 minutes should be inside somewhere warming up,” Tirado said.
Limiting worker exposure to cold can go a long way toward preventing cold stress injuries and illnesses such as frostbite, hypothermia, trench foot and chilblains.