LONDON — The Theatre Safety Committee of the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT.org.uk) has issued Guidance Note 1.22. This spells out the conditions for working during hot weather — defined as above 25-degrees Celsius (77-degrees Fahrenheit) — and is primarily directed at those requiring risk assessments for working in hot weather in both indoor and outdoor events.
Although based on U.K. regulations, many of its suggestions can apply to protecting event worker safety anywhere in the world.
Guidance Note 1.22 points out that high temperatures can increase the risk of accidents due to slips, trips, falls, poor manual handling, injury from hand tools, etc. Thermal discomfort gives rise to reduced efficiency that can lead to poor decision-making with resultant errors. Work in hot and humid conditions can lead to an increased risk to health because:
- Sweat evaporation is restricted by clothing worn and by the humidity of the environment
- Heat will be produced within the body due to the work rate and, if insufficient heat is lost, deep body temperature will rise
- As deep body temperature rises, the body reacts by increasing the amount of sweat produced, which may lead to dehydration
- Heart rate also increases, which puts additional strain on the body
- If the body is gaining more heat than it can lose, the deep body temperature will continue to rise, eventually reaching a point when the body’s control mechanism itself starts to fail
- The symptoms will worsen the longer the person remains working in the same conditions
For more info, and the complete text, visit: abtt.org.uk
