Afternoon everybody,
I suspect many of us are looking wistfully out of our workplace windows, wishing we could be out in the beautiful sunshine instead of being stuck inside working.
Doing this job helping victims of accidents, each distinct part of the year brings different types of new cases and different kinds of accidents and accident claims. I thought I’d use this blog to give you some of my experience of the sorts of accidents and threats that happen in warm summer weather.
First of all there are the people who are lucky enough to work outside. We might not be so jealous of them in the cold and wet winter, but it must be nice when it’s glorious outside. Summer does throw some hazards at them though.
Most obvious are the hazards raised by really hot conditions. Sometimes safety equipment isn’t worn in the workplace when it should be, because it can become uncomfortably hot. In many workplaces wearing shorts is never a good idea! The heat itself can even become the hazard if there is a danger of becoming dehydrated. I have had cases where someone dazed and dehydrated has fallen from height or dropped things on colleagues. Factories, warehouses and offices can be equally uncomfortable and dull the senses with heat too.
Here in Leeds we have a large workforce with a really mixed bag of trades and workplaces. Staying comfortable and safe at work is not always easy and managers need to stay on top of employee welfare issues in extreme conditions
Employers need to be alive to these dangers of any kinds of extreme weather and make sure that they take suitable precautions to keep their employees safe. Keeping it topical, could you imagine Andy Murray (well done Andy, by the way) at his workplace – centre court – without his massive juice bottle? He is wise enough to take a big swig at every change of ends.
Hot weather also serves up enticements, such as open water, like lakes, ponds and gravel pits. The sea too. Tragedies occur every year around water and sometimes it is the extreme of going from very hot to very cold in an instant. These hazards are even more worrying when kids are involved and the summer holidays are here for some already and will be here for all very soon.
On the road, fatigue and discomfort in the heat can become an issue. You also see roads get very greasy when there has been a long period of dry hot weather followed by a downpour. The rubber and oil deposited on the road in the dry spell turns into a treacherously slippery skid pan.
Keep safe in the sun and if you have an accident give us a no obligation call or click the case evaluation button below.
John
