20 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com
Proper winter headwear
helps limit risks of
excessive cold exposure
BRAIN
A
s a competitive cross-country skier, Haley Kup-
pers learned fi rst-hand the effects of extreme
cold on the body. On the day of one race, the
temperature was -18 C — plus wind chill.
"After the race, your lungs feel like they're in
pain because of the harsh cold they're experiencing," she
recalls. "It bites your skin, and the higher humidity gives
you that bone-chilling feeling."
Kuppers, now a provincial health and safety specialist with
the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines in Victo-
ria, says her experience of the cold remains a strong memory,
reminding her always of the importance of knowing how to
stay warm.
"That made sure that I would always go prepared to a
mine site," she says.
Workers who spend hours outside during the winter
months must maintain their core body temperature at 37 C,
according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health
and Safety (CCOHS). It's especially important to protect the
head. The head, face and chest are more sensitive to tem-
perature changes. And, although the head does not lose heat
at a greater rate than do other parts of the body, exposure of
the head speeds up cooling of the body's core temperature.
Excessive exposure to cold, or cold stress, can cause seri-
ous health effects, most commonly frost nip (freezing of
skin surface), frostbite (freezing of and damage to skin and
other tissues) and hypothermia (cooling of the body below
the temperature required for normal metabolism).
A basic component of training for those working in
By Linda Johnson
BRAIN BRAIN
FREEZE
