Hopefully everyone is enjoying the hot weather and sunshine like we are at the Safewell office and are taking the right measures to protect themselves in this weather, with good hydration and sun protection being key. If you’re exercising try to do it first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
Generally in the UK we are not usually blessed with this weather, not since the 1970’s and 80’s have we really had it this hot and for this long.
One thing I’ve come across on my Occupational Health travels is quite severe cases of dehydration and people generally not being aware of the dangers and symptoms. One person actually being Tachycardic as a result of not enough fluid intake.
Tachycardia is basically rapid and irregular heart rate at rest in adults. Tachycardia happens when heartbeats exceed 100 beats per minute. Dehydration is the loss of too many fluids from the body to work properly. Dehydration also causes loss of electrolytes like sodium, potassium, etc. along with water. Excessive loss of body fluid results in a reduction in blood volume, and blood pressure. The heart has to work faster to meet the requirement of adequate blood supply.
As an employer are you making sure your employees are aware of the risks?
A common cause of dehydration in the modern workplace is air conditioning, which causes a low water content in the atmosphere, leading to increased water loss from the lungs and through the skin. A lack of adequate hydration at work can cause symptoms such as tiredness, loss of concentration and headaches.
The Bottom line is think ahead, carry enough water, or at least know where you can get a drink whilst at work, take regular breaks if working outside for long periods of time, especially if your in direct contact with the sun. Wear a hat if you can and carry a good sun protection cream with you and apply it.
When summer vacation from school arrives, most children spend a great deal of time outdoors being active. Because children have a larger surface area in relation to body mass, they often gain heat faster than adults when the outside air temperature is higher than body temperature.
People who spend hours training and competing in the hot summer sun often do not have an adequate intake of fluids to make up for the loss of fluids caused by their activities.
Workers such as landscapers, construction crews, police officers, postal employees and others who spend most of their days in the heat often have little time for bathroom breaks or for drinking fluids. As a result, these workers may not consume enough fluids during their workdays.
There is a fine line between how heat affects most adults and how it affects the elderly in more profound ways. It’s extremely important for senior citizens to practice a gradual acclimatization to heat that puts an emphasis on hydration.
We have worked with Safewell for many years and are retained clients, so we have developed an excellent working relationship with the team. However, this really came into its own when Covid 19 appeared.
As a Plumbing and Heating business, we were able to carry on working during the lockdown but only for responding to emergencies. We were obviously very concerned about the health and safety of our employees and before we even had chance to get in touch with Safewell, they had emailed us offering their assistance. It is hard to put down on paper how that made us feel - we like everyone else felt totally at sea, which way to turn, what to do? But Safewell were there guiding, supporting and being totally brilliant. Their attention to detail is very impressive and reassuring and we feel able to ask lots of questions without feeling silly.
During the pandemic Safewell helped us to write risk assessments, safety procedures and protocols. They kept in touch regularly, issuing new guidance as soon as it appeared and checking in with us. They held group Q&A sessions over Zoom which were helpful, and knowing other businesses were facing the same challenges and having the opportunity to discuss issues was invaluable. Their help during the preparation for a full return to work was brilliant, they enabled us to be fully prepared and feel in control, and when we had our first case of Covid within the team, because we had planned our response it felt ok.
I think our team felt very reassured by our robust approach and that our office was Covid secure. We are extremely grateful to all the team at Safewell
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