Though the warm temperatures of summer are a welcome sight to many, these higher temperatures can present challenges to various components of your workplace. It can be easy to assume that your facilities are prepared to handle these unique challenges if they have gone through previous summers unscathed. However, success in the past doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in the present. To ensure your facility can operate efficiently throughout the summer, here are four workplace evaluations to run as the heat of summer approaches.
Climate Control
Keeping your building cool is a crucial part of keeping your employees and your equipment safe. Even if you operate a warehouse that is only lightly climate-controlled, there are OSHA regulations in place that dictate how high the heat can go. Therefore, it’s important to have a qualified HVAC contractor to inspect your system to ensure that it’s operating correctly and will continue to operate as expected throughout the summer.
Electrical
A major component of a functioning climate control system is an electrical system that is working flawlessly. If your facility has any type of air cooler, then summer will be the season during which you have the highest electricity draw. When you add this draw on top of your normal power consumption, it’s easy to see the importance of having commercial electrical services to inspect your facility’s electrical grid. This is also a great way to protect against fire, as any frayed or exposed wires could cause an unseen fire hazard.
Emergency Preparedness
If you run a workplace where people participate in physically taxing work, then it’s important to evaluate your emergency plans as the summer approaches. Even with proper precautions and warnings in place, there will still be individuals who unintentionally overdo it from time to time. If you have an employee who experiences heat exhaustion or other heat-related conditions, it’s vital that there are individuals on site who can respond quickly to help the employee recover.
Parking Areas
As the sun beats down on your facility’s parking lots, the heat they absorb can take a toll on the asphalt or concrete. Summer heat can expand existing cracks and create new cracks, leading to an unsightly and potentially dangerous parking lot. Therefore, before the heat really kicks in, it’s a good idea to evaluate your parking lot to see if you need to do any repairs to help your parking areas survive the summer heat unscathed.
For the most part, normal preparations like those listed above are all that is necessary to prepare your workplace for the summer heat. However, if there are days with especially high heat or humidity, it’s crucial that you re-evaluate your preparations to ensure they don’t require modification. A great way to stay on top of this is to simply stay aware of the weather forecast so that you have enough time to make any necessary changes before the extreme heat strikes.
Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.
