As a site manager, part of your job is ensuring that your crew members work within safety guidelines. However, this goes beyond making sure workers are following best practices; it’s also about teaching them how to protect themselves. In the summer months, this means providing your crew with the tips and resources they need to stay safe in the heat and avoid the dangers of heat-related illnesses. To help you protect your invaluable construction crew, let’s take a look at a few important summer safety tips.

Staying Hydrated

This may seem like an obvious tip, but there’s more to staying hydrated than simply drinking water, especially when engaging in physical labor. Glucose is the main energy source for the cells in our body, and we need sodium to draw water into those cells. This means that your crew members need to either drink beverages with electrolytes or eat a snack with their water.

Appropriate Work Clothing

When working outdoors in the heat, the best thing your construction crew can do to protect their body is wear the right clothing. This means wearing clothes that cover the body to protect the skin from sunburn, but the fabric also has to be breathable. Clothing should be lightweight, light in color, and loose fitting, ideally consisting of fabrics such as polyester, nylon, or rayon. Cooling scarves and cooling vests are also great options.

Take Consistent Breaks

Taking consistent breaks doesn’t just help the body cool down, and it also helps you get acclimated to the heat. If a worker pushes themselves too hard too quickly—especially if they’re not used to the heat—they vastly increase the chance of heatstroke. As a site manager, you need to provide them with enough breaks as well as a shaded area to beat the heat. Temporary enclosures can make a job site safer by providing shaded areas for workers to take a break, as the shaded interiors can be as low as fifteen degrees cooler than the outside temperature.

Know the Signs of Heatstroke

Knowing the signs of heatstroke is the most important summer safety tip—every construction crew member should know what to look for in themselves and others. Heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses often begin to present themselves as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and confusion. As the illness progresses, they may notice heavy sweating, cold and clammy skin, a rapid or weak pulse, fatigue, muscle cramps, and vomiting.

If a worker collapses, it’s important to call 911 right away and place cool, wet towels on the neck, armpits, and groin areas. When workers know how to look out for each other, construction sites can become much safer.

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