Selecting FR Work Clothing for Cooler Weather
As the winter months approach and the temperature drops, it’s important to keep workers warm by selecting the proper FR work clothing. The cooler temperatures create a new hazard for workers: cold stress. Similar to heat stress, this occurs when someone loses the ability to regulate their body temperature due to being exposed to extreme temperatures. As skin temperature drops, the core body temperature will eventually drop too. This can lead to a decrease in productivity and performance, but it doesn’t stop there. Cold stress can eventually lead to hypothermia, which can cause workers to lose coordination, a decrease in breathing and heart rate, and a loss of consciousness. To protect your workers from cold stress, it is important to select the proper winter work coveralls for the cold weather.One of the main reasons workers cite for non-compliance with PPE protocols is that the FR work winter garments are just too uncomfortable so they don’t want to wear them. Other common compliants are that PPE is too hot or has a poor fit. The best way to fix this problem is to provide workers with garments they actually want to wear and garments that improve productivity through comfort.Based on our end user research, a comfortable garment has three important characteristics: lightweight, breathability, and moisture wicking.A lightweight garment can add warmth when needed without weighing down the worker and hindering the range of motion. Breathability allows heat and air to flow through the garment to prevent overheating while moisture wicking fabric works to keep the worker dry. FR coveralls that has this combination can improve worker safety and productivity by eliminating the distraction of physical discomfort.
MOISTURE WICKING
It may be getting cold outside, but that doesn’t mean that workers stop sweating. Moisture and dampness from sweat can increase the rate of heat loss from the body, accelerating cold stress. The best way to combat perspiration and the resulted cold stress is to have FR clothing that is moisture wicking. This is an important part of not just comfort, but worker safety and productivity as well. Moisture wicking fabrics are created by using a blend of hydrophilic and hydrophilic fibers.FR Hi-vis winter clothing isn’t just for the summer. In fact, the winter brings a variety of potential hazards that can create even more of a need for FR hi-vis clothing than the summer. Less daylight, foul weather, and the cloudy skies of winter all contribute to decreased visibility for outside workers. This means that many workers need FR hi-vis outerwear that is compliant to ASNI 107 and can keep them warm during the winter.