TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) – As temperatures remain below freezing, it’s important to keep safety first when you’re working outside.
Keeping workers safe from cold weather conditions
The cold temperatures don’t stop Ryan Ball from doing his daily work. Every day, he pushes shopping carts for Baesler’s Market in Terre Haute.
Ball says he gets through these cold conditions with a good attitude and the right clothes.
“Dress in layers. Put warm clothes on and everything, just dress in layers,”
said Ball.
With the recent winter storm, temperatures have dropped below freezing. Even with the cold, customers still need help at the grocery store.
To help keep ball and customers coming in and out of the store safe, Baesler’s makes it their top priority to salt the parking lot.
“We have someone who plows our parking lot and make sure it’s salted before the ice gets here and the snow. So we do take those precautions as well, said Kristine O’Hare, Marketing at Baesler’s Market.
To limit workers’ time outside in freezing temperatures, Baesler’s rotates schedules so workers can take breaks in warm locations.
“The main thing that we do is that we don’t have someone out there just like all the time, pushing carts. We kind of do it as needed, you know, with the snow storm coming, it was busier in the store, but we have people trade-off, you know, different things like that,” said O’Hare.
The “National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,” says anyone who works outside in a cold environment is at risk of cold-related injuries or illness.
That includes hypothermia, frostbite, and even trench foot. To prevent that, workers should wear lots of layers for better insulation — As ball does.
Also, keep an eye on their physical condition and take breaks in sheltered areas.
Ball braves through the cold, but helping customers out is his main priority.
“Offer a cart, and if I see another that needs a cart, I say, ‘hey, you need a cart. It’s warm, and they’ll say, “Oh, okay, that’s nice. They enjoy that because they don’t have to get a cold one,” said Ball.