The risks of excessive heat: heat stress

In a large number of work environments, professionals are forced to work under the high temperatures that exist in certain outdoor locations during the hottest months of the year or in facilities and industries where they are in close proximity to sources of high heat, such as metal foundries.

These professionals can suffer from heat stress, and it is necessary for them to have the right work clothes and to follow a series of tips to prevent the problem from worsening.

The so-called heat stress occurs when professionals endure high temperatures, they do so for a long time, to the point of accumulating that heat in their own body.

This problem is not a disease derived from your profession, but a cause of the different pathological effects that originate in those cases in which too much heat accumulates in the body.

These professionals who work in this type of environment can suffer from problems such as sweating and peripheral vasodilation, an excessive loss of heat through liquids, which requires them to be sufficiently hydrated at all times.

Once the body temperature exceeds 38 degrees, health problems can occur, so making the body at that temperature for a long time can cause serious health problems.

To try to reduce heat stress , prevention is essential, so in some areas of Spain, mainly in the south of the country, some jobs are carried out during the summer at different hours than they do in winter, thus preventing workers from doing their work in temperatures that can exceed 40 degrees. Very difficult conditions to work without ventilation.

As for the prevention measures themselves, it is recommended to drink water and isotonic drinks, avoiding fatty and hard-to-digest foods and showering or cooling off at the end of work.

Of course, it is essential to make use of the right workwear , which is made of fresh fabrics and light colors.

The head should also be protected from the sun by wearing caps, hats, etc., thus preventing the sun from falling directly on it, with the problems that this can cause in the health of the worker.