Hydration Safety in the Summer: How InReach Supports Oil & Gas Workers in Extreme Conditions
There’s never an easy time to work in the oil & gas industry. This is a tremendously demanding field throughout the year, but the challenge goes up a notch in the summer months as temperatures soar. Proper hydration in the summer is not only important for worker performance—it’s critical to keep everyone healthy and safe.
Teaming up with InReach to hydrate your employees will make the summer months a little more manageable for all involved. Take a moment today to get in touch and learn more.
The Many Risks of Dehydration
Dehydration is a serious threat to human health, yet it is incredibly common. Studies estimate that roughly 20% of individuals are regularly dehydrated. While it’s possible to become dehydrated in any type of weather, the risk goes up dramatically in hot and humid conditions. When you add in the type of physical exertion that is common in the oil & gas industry, you have a recipe for dangerous conditions.
Heat exhaustion is one of many potential outcomes when workers become dehydrated in hot weather. This condition is marked by excessive sweating, dizziness, and muscle cramps. Even if it doesn’t escalate any further, heat exhaustion is going to make it nearly impossible for your employees to do their work properly and safely.
Unfortunately, heat exhaustion can also lead to heat stroke. This is a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body can no longer regulate its temperature. Heat stroke is an emergency situation that needs to be treated right away by a medical professional.
There is also cognitive decline that comes with dehydration. When your workers are dehydrated, they won’t be thinking as clearly or focusing as intently on the job at hand. That can lead to outcomes like slower reaction times and poor decision-making—both of which could contribute to a higher risk of workplace accidents.
Making Water Available and Convenient
It’s clear by this point that dehydration is nothing to take lightly. So, as a starting point, always having an ample supply of water on hand and readily available to workers is a non-negotiable part of operating your facility. This shouldn’t be the end of your hydration efforts, but it is a necessary starting point.
Both water stations and bottled water can be useful components of your water services. Stations are great for workers to replenish their fluids while on a break or while walking from one part of the facility to another. And, by providing bottles, you’ll be offering a portable hydration option that can be taken with them no matter where the work demands that they go. Working with a reliable water delivery service makes it easy to ensure these basics are always ready to go.
Going Beyond Water
You can make it easier for your people to avoid dehydration by adding some other beverage options to your services beyond standard water. Specifically, consider having electrolyte-rich beverage options on hand throughout the summer months. This could mean sports drinks or products that are added to your available water to fortify it with the kinds of electrolytes that are lost through prolonged sweating.
Education Is Important
For the most part, people are going to drink when they are hot and thirsty. So, if you make water and other beverages easily available, they will be consumed. With that said, education can also play a key role in your overall hydration strategy. Make it clear to your workers what health risks they are facing when dehydration occurs. Encourage everyone in the facility to review the summer hydration safety tips that you provide. This way, they can hopefully stay ahead of the game and consume plenty of water before they even feel thirsty.
Put Reliable Hydration Services InReach
There is enough to worry about in the oil & gas industry; you don’t need to add hydration to your list of concerns. Let InReach take this matter off your plate by utilizing our water service to keep everyone on the team hydrated and healthy no matter the weather outside.
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