External Operations Experience
Update: Slips, Falls and Other
Winter Hazards
Department of Energy
Operating Experience Work Group
December 8, 2015
Larry Stirling,
Office of Analysis (AU-23)
Slips, Falls and Other Winter Hazards
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Driving
Snow
Preventing Slips in Snow and Ice
Power Lines
Cold Stress
Stay Informed
Your Family
Resources
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Winter Hazard Precautions
• Winter Driving
• Brakes: Brakes should provide even and
balanced braking. Also check that brake fluid
is at the proper level.
• Cooling System: Ensure a proper mixture of
50/50 antifreeze and water in the cooling
system at the proper level.
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Winter Driving
• Oil: Check that oil is at proper level.
• Electrical System: Check the ignition system
and make sure that the battery is fully charged
and that the connections are clean. Check that
the alternator belt is in good condition with
proper tension.
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Winter Driving
• Exhaust System: Check exhaust for leaks and
that all clamps and hangers are snug.
• Tires: depth and no signs of damage or
uneven wear. Check for proper tire inflation.
• Check for proper tread
• Engine: Inspect all engine systems.
• Visibility Systems: Inspect all exterior lights,
defrosters (windshield and rear window), and
wipers. Install winter windshield wipers.
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Winter Driving
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Traction aids (bag of sand or cat litter)
Emergency flares
Jumper cables
Snacks
Water
Road maps
Blankets, change of clothes
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Winter Driving
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Cellphone or two-way radio
Windshield ice scraper
Snow brush
Flashlight with extra batteries
Shovel
Tow chain
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Winter Driving
• Stranded in a Vehicle
• Call for emergency assistance if needed, response
time may be slow in severe winter weather
conditions. Notify your supervisor of your situation.
• Do not leave the vehicle to search for assistance
unless help is visible within 100 yards. You may
become disoriented and get lost in blowing and
drifting snow.
• Display a trouble sign by hanging a brightly colored
cloth on the vehicle’s radio antenna and raising the
hood.
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Winter Driving
• Turn on the vehicle's engine for about 10 minutes
each hour and run the heat to keep warm.
• Turn on the vehicle's dome light when the vehicle is
running as an additional signal.
• Beware of carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Keep the exhaust pipe clear of snow, and open a
downwind window slightly for ventilation
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SNOW
• Shoveling Snow
• Shoveling snow can be a strenuous activity,
particularly because cold weather can be tasking
on the body.
• There is a potential for exhaustion, dehydration,
back injuries, or heart attacks.
• During snow removal in addition to following the
tips for avoiding cold stress, such as taking
frequent breaks in warm areas, there are other
precautions workers can take to avoid injuries.
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SNOW
• Workers should warm-up before the activity, scoop
small amounts of snow at a time and where possible,
push the snow instead of lifting it.
• The use of proper lifting technique is necessary to
avoid back and other injuries when shoveling snow:
keep the back straight, lift with the legs and do not
turn or twist the body.
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SNOW
• Using Power Equipment It is important to make
sure that powered equipment, such as snow
blowers are properly grounded to protect
workers from electric shocks or electrocutions.
• When performing maintenance or cleaning, make
sure the equipment is properly guarded and is
disconnected from power sources.
• Snow blowers commonly cause lacerations or
amputations when operators attempt to clear
jams with the equipment turned on. Never
attempt to clear a jam by hand.
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SNOW
• Clearing Snow from Roofs and Working at
Heights
• Employers must evaluate snow removal tasks for
hazards and plan how to do the work safely.
Workers should be aware of the potential for
unexpected hazards due to the weather
conditions, for example, layers of ice can form as
the environmental temperature drops, making
surfaces even more slippery
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SNOW
• A surface that is weighed down by snow must be
inspected by a competent person to determine if
it is structurally safe for workers to access it,
because it may be at risk of collapsing.
• Snow covered rooftops can hide hazards such as
skylights that workers can fall through. Electrical
hazards may also exist from overhead power lines
or snow removal equipment.
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Preventing Slips on Snow and Ice
• To prevent slips, trips, and falls, employers should
clear snow and ice from walking surfaces, and
spread deicer, as quickly as possible after a winter
storm. When walking on snow or ice is
unavoidable workers should be trained to:
• Wear footwear that has good traction and
insulation (e.g. insulated and water resistant
boots or rubber over-shoes with good rubber
treads)
• Take short steps and walk at a slower pace to
react quickly to changes in traction
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Power Lines
• Repairing Downed or Damaged Power Lines
• Repairing and/or replacing damaged power lines in
severe winter weather conditions are especially
hazardous.
• A major hazard is snow, because the moisture can
reduce the insulation value of protective equipment,
and could cause electrocution.
• In these conditions de-energized work is safer, but if
energized work must be done, qualified workers and
supervisors must first do a hazard analysis that
includes evaluating the weather conditions and
identifying how to safely do the job.
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Power Lines
• Electrocution by contacting downed energized
power lines or contacting broken tree limbs in
contact with downed energized power lines.
Learn more at: Line Clearance Tree Trimming
Operations (OSHA Electric Power eTools).
• Falls from heights.
• Being injured by equipment such as chain saws
(Chain Saw Safety (PDF ) (OSHA Quick Card)) and
chippers (Chipper Machine Safety (PDF ) (OSHA
Quick Card)).
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Cold Stress
• How cold is too cold?
• What constitutes extreme cold and its effects can vary across
different areas of the country. In regions that are not used to winter
weather, near freezing temperatures are considered "extreme
cold.“
• A cold environment forces the body to work harder to maintain its
temperature. Whenever temperatures drop below normal and wind
speed increases, heat can leave your body more rapidly.
• Wind chill is the temperature your body feels when air temperature
and wind speed are combined. For example, when the air
temperature is 40°F, and the wind speed is 35 mph, the effect on
the exposed skin is as if the air temperature was 28°F.
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Cold Stress
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Cold Stress
• Cold stress occurs by driving down the skin
temperature and eventually the internal body
temperature (core temperature). This may
lead to serious health problems, and may
cause tissue damage, and possibly death
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Cold Stress
• What are the risk factors that contribute to
cold stress?
• Some of the risk factors that contribute to cold
stress are:
• Wetness/dampness, dressing improperly, and
exhaustion
• Predisposing health conditions such as
hypertension, hypothyroidism, and diabetes
• Poor physical conditioning
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Cold Stress
• What is hypothermia?
• Hypothermia occurs when body heat is lost
faster than it can be replaced and the normal
body temperature (98.6°F) drops to less than
95°F. Hypothermia is most likely at very cold
temperatures, but it can occur even at cool
temperatures (above 40°F), if a person
becomes chilled from rain, sweat, or
submersion in cold water.
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Cold Stress
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What are the symptoms of hypothermia?
Mild symptoms:
An exposed worker is alert.
He or she may begin to shiver and stomp the
feet in order to generate heat
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Cold Stress
• What can be done for a person suffering from
hypothermia?
• Call 911 immediately in an emergency; otherwise
seek medical assistance as soon as possible.
• Move the person to a warm, dry area.
• Remove wet clothes and replace with dry clothes,
cover the body (including the head and neck)
with layers of blankets; and with a vapor barrier
(e.g. tarp, garbage bag). Do not cover the face.
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Cold Stress
• What is frostbite?
• Frostbite is an injury to the body that is caused by freezing
of the skin and underlying tissues. The lower the
temperature, the more quickly frostbite will occur. Frostbite
typically affects the extremities, particularly the feet and
hands. Amputation may be required in severe cases.
• What are the symptoms of frostbite?
• Reddened skin develops gray/white patches.
• Numbness in the affected part.
• Feels firm or hard.
• Blisters may occur in the affected part, in severe cases.
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Cold Stress
• What can be done for a person suffering from
frostbite?
• Follow the recommendations described above
for hypothermia.
• Do not rub the affected area to warm it
because this action can cause more damage.
• Do not apply snow/water. Do not break
blisters.
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Cold Stress
• What is immersion/trench foot?
• Trench Foot or immersion foot is caused by
prolonged exposure to wet and cold
temperatures.
• It can occur at temperatures as high as 60°F if
the feet are constantly wet. Non-freezing
injury occurs because wet feet lose heat 25times faster than dry feet.
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Cold Stress
• To prevent heat loss, the body constricts the
blood vessels to shut down circulation in the
feet.
• The skin tissue begins to die because of a lack
of oxygen and nutrients and due to the
buildup of toxic products.
• What are the symptoms of trench foot?
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Cold Stress
• Redness of the skin, swelling, numbness,
blisters
• What can be done for a person suffering from
immersion foot?
• Call 911 immediately in an emergency;
otherwise seek medical assistance as soon as
possible.
• Remove the shoes, or boots, and wet socks.
• Dry the feet.
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Stay Informed
• Weather Apps
• National Weather Service. The National
Weather Service's Daily Briefing is a website
that provides information on the weather
outlook.
• NOAA Weather Radio. A network of radio
stations that continuously broadcast weather
information from the nearest National
Weather Service office.
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Your Family
• Make a Family Communication Plan. Your
family may not be together during an extreme
winter event, so it is important to know how
you will contact one another, how you will get
back together, and what you will do during an
emergency.
• Be sure to check on older neighbors and
family members; assist as necessary.
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Your Family
• Heating Checklist
• Turning on the stove for heat is not safe; have
at least one of the following heat sources in
case the power goes out:
– Extra blankets, sleeping bags, and warm winter
coats
– Fireplace with plenty of dry firewood or a gas log
fireplace
– Portable space heaters or kerosene heaters
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Your Family
• Check with your local fire department to make
sure that kerosene heaters are legal in your area.
• Use electric space heaters with automatic shutoff switches and non-glowing elements.
• Never place a space heater on top of furniture or
near water.
• Never leave children unattended near a space
heater.
• Keep heat sources at least 3 feet away from
furniture and drapes.
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Your Family
• Have the following safety equipment:
– Chemical fire extinguisher
– Smoke alarm in working order (Check prior to winter
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storm season
and change batteries, if needed.)
– Carbon monoxide detector (Check prior to winter
storm season and change batteries, if needed.)
• Never use an electric generator indoors, inside
the garage, or near the air intake of your home
because of the risk of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
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Your Family
• Food and Safety Checklist
• Have a week’s worth of food and safety supplies.
If you live far from other people, have more
supplies on hand. Make sure you have the
following supplies:
• Drinking water
• Canned/no-cook food (bread, crackers, dried
fruits)
• Non-electric can opener
• Baby food and formula (if baby in the household)
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Your Family
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Prescription drugs and other medicine
First-aid kit
Rock-salt to melt ice on walkways
Supply of cat litter or bag of sand to add
traction on walkways
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Battery-powered lamps or lanterns
(To prevent the risk of fire, avoid using candles
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Your Family
• Water Checklist
• Keep a water supply. Extreme cold can cause
water pipes in your home to freeze and
sometimes break.
• Leave all water taps slightly open so they drip
continuously.
• Keep the indoor temperature warm.
• Allow more heated air near pipes. Open kitchen
cabinet doors under the kitchen sink.
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Your Family
• If your pipes do freeze, do not thaw them with a torch.
Thaw the pipes slowly with warm air from an electric
hair dryer.
• If you cannot thaw your pipes, or if the pipes have
broken open, use bottled water or get water from a
neighbor’s home.
• Fill the bathtub or have bottled water on hand.
• In an emergency, if no other water is available, snow
can be melted for water. Bringing water to a rolling boil
for one minute will kill most germs but won’t get rid of
chemicals sometimes found in snow.
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Resources
• Safe Winter Driving (OSHA)
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/safeDrivin
g.html
• Falls and Other Hazards to Workers Removing
Snow from Rooftops and Other Elevated
Surfaces:
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3513roof-snow-hazard.pdf
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Resources
• Winter Weather: Plan, Equip and Train:
https://www.osha.gov/dts/weather/winter_weat
her/hazards_precautions.html
• OSHA Cold Stress Guide:
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/emergencyprepared
ness/guides/cold.html
• OSHA Quick Card: Protecting Workers from Cold
Stress:
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3156.p
df
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Resources
• National Weather Service: Daily Briefing:
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA315
6.pdf
• NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/
• Family Communication Plan (DHS):
http://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan
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Resources
• NOAA’s National Weather Service Says: Know
Your Winter Weather Terms:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s794c.ht
m
• Winter Weather (CDC):
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/index.as
p
• American Automobile Association: Winter Driving
Tips: http://exchange.aaa.com/safety/roadwaysafety/winter-driving-tips/#.Vl8UtXnluuA
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Resources
• National Safety Council: Winter Safety:
http://exchange.aaa.com/safety/roadwaysafety/winter-driving-tips/#.Vl8UtXnluuA
• NIOSH Fast Facts: Protecting Yourself From
Cold Stress:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010115/pdfs/2010-115.pdf
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• Contact Information:
Larry Stirling
Office of Analysis (AU-23)
202-586-2417
john.stirling@hq.doe.gov
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