Winter is already here

During winter, it can turn pretty cold in Finland. Tempe­ra­tu­res below minus 20 centi­grade are not unusual at all.

10.2.2021

Working in cold tempe­ra­tu­res is part of the job for many people. This may create hazards that could be avoi­ded with a good preparation.

The Occu­pa­tio­nal Safety and Health Act stipu­la­tes that the emplo­yer shall ”syste­ma­tically and adequa­tely analyse and iden­tify the hazards and risk factors caused by the work”. This also inclu­des risks caused by working in cold temperatures.

If the hazards iden­ti­fied in this analy­sis cannot be elimi­na­ted, the emplo­yer must assess their consequences for the emplo­yees’ health and safety. When doing this, occu­pa­tio­nal health care can help. The emplo­yer must also provide perso­nal protec­tive equip­ment for the workers, when needed.

Members of the Industrial Union work under a wide variety of working condi­tions, both indoor and outdoor. The union collec­tive agree­ments do not define any exact tempe­ra­ture when outdoor work is stop­ped due to the cold, or heat.

In the mecha­nical fore­stry industry and sheet and industrial insu­la­tion branch sectors the working condi­tions are asses­sed locally and when needed, limi­ta­tions to work can be agreed upon. If weat­her condi­tions bring work to a halt, emplo­yees have the right to earnings-rela­ted unemplo­y­ment benefit.

In all other sectors of the union the emplo­yer pays wages if work is stop­ped due to the cold.

Why has the Industrial Union not deman­ded an exact tempe­ra­ture limit for work? The main reason is to protect emplo­yees’ health in all condi­tions. When evalua­ting the effects of tempe­ra­ture all aspects must be taken into account.

The real effect of tempe­ra­ture on the human body is connec­ted to humi­dity and wind factors. A dry winter day does not feel as bad on our skin as a cold and humid day. The combi­na­tion of cold air tempe­ra­tu­res and strong winds, the so-called wind chill factor, can make even a mode­ra­tely cold tempe­ra­ture feel intolerable.

For example, a tempe­ra­ture of minus 10 centi­grade feels like minus 20 centi­grade with a wind of ten meters per second. With a simi­lar wind, a tempe­ra­ture of minus 20 centi­grade feels like minus 34 centigrades.

The union stres­ses the need to find tech­nical solu­tions against cold. These can be for example a warmed tent when repai­ring equip­ment on the road or a warm booth when fixing the telecom­mu­nica­tions connections.

The first thing an emplo­yer should do is to iden­tify the effects and hazards of cold and find tech­nical solu­tions to protect emplo­yees, if needed. Perso­nal protec­tive equip­ment should only be used as a last resort.

The task of occu­pa­tio­nal health is to see whet­her persons working in cold need some extra health checks.

TEXT HEIKKI JOKINEN