• Tag Archives: HVACR

Stay Safe in the Heat

When you think about the dangers of working on air conditioning equipment, you probably think about working with electricity, refrigerant, and torches. We often overlook a more obvious danger: the weather. The reason we have a job is because it is either hot or cold. It seems like every year there is tragic news involving the death of an HVAC worker found unconscious or dead in an attic due to heat stroke. These tragic deaths are totally preventable and unnecessary.

To avoid becoming a victim of heat stroke you must monitor your body’s reaction to the heat. When you are hot, sweating is good. The evaporation of sweat is your last line of defense against overheating. Sometimes sweating just isn’t enough to counteract the effects of work and hot, humid conditions. If you are sweating profusely and experiencing a rapid pulse, muscle cramps, and dizziness, you are experiencing heat exhaustion. To avoid becoming a victim of heat stroke you need to get out of the heat, hydrate, and cool off. If it is hot and you are NOT sweating, you are past heat exhaustion and entering into heat stroke. This is very dangerous, you can pass out from heat stroke. Symptoms include dry, hot skin (90+); rapid pulse (130+), headache, dizziness, and confusion. If you have these symptoms, you may be the victim of heat stroke – which is life threatening. You should get out of the heat, hydrate, and call 911. Don’t ignore what your body is telling you. If you start feeling bad while working in the heat – get to a cool place and hydrate.

The locations where HVAC techs are exposed to the most extreme heat are attics and commercial rooftops. Jobs in these locations should be scheduled for early morning to avoid the worst heat. Air movement can help in attics. On rooftops you can shield yourself from the sun using canopies or umbrellas. Keeping hydrated is critical. You should have plenty of water and sports drinks available all the time. You should avoid alcohol or caffeinated sodas because they are diuretics and can actually dehydrate you. Sorry, but you cannot keep hydrated by drinking beer.

Tools that can help you stay safe include heat stress meters and wearable health monitoring devices. Heat stress meters can help determine the effective heat index of the work area. They measure the combined effect of temperature, humidity, and mean radiant temperature to determine the effective temperature in an area where you are working. They can include an alarm that warns you if the heat index will exceed a safe level. Wearable devices can measure your body’s reaction to the work environment. While a heat stress meter measures the area, the wearable monitor measures you. One, the CORE, measures your body temperature and heart rate. Using this device you can determine how your body is handling the heat and take action when signs of heat exhaustion are indicated. Here are links for these two devices.

Heat Stress WBGT Meter-HT30 (trutechtools.com)

CORE Body Temperature Sensor

I highly recommend that you do some research to better understand how to stay safe. To that end I am including several links

Heat exhaustion – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic

Heatstroke – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic

Heat Stress Related Illness | NIOSH | CDC

OSHA Guidelines to Prevent Heat Illness | TFT Pneumatic (tft-pneumatic.com)

Beat the Heat: Identifying and Preventing Heat Stress | (3m.com)

Duck Tape

Like many others, I have assumed for years that the original and proper spelling for the ubiquitous gray cloth tape is duct tape, as in taping duct seams. I was wrong. I just recently learned some of the history of the original invention of Duck Tape by reading about it on a Facebook post by George Lanthier. If you work in oil or gas heat in the northeast, you probably have at least heard of George.  I know he knows what he is talking about, but we are talking about a Facebook post, so I did a little more research. According to Educationalnow.com, the word duck comes from the Dutch word doek, which means linen canvas. According to thoughtco.com, soldiers called it “Duck Tape” because of the way it repelled water. Perhaps both are true. But that is not really the interesting part of the story.

A mom named Vesta Stoudt came up with the original idea for Duck Tape while working in a factory packing ammo boxes. Before the development of Duck Tape, cartridges were packed in heavy cardboard boxes that were taped and dipped in wax to make them waterproof. The box flaps were sealed with thin paper tape, and a tab of tape was left loose so that it could be pulled to release the waterproof wax coating and open the box. The problem was that the thin paper tape wasn’t strong enough, and the tabs frequently tore off when soldiers pulled on them to open the ammo boxes, leaving them frantically scrambling to claw the boxes open while under enemy fire. Vesta developed a prototype cloth tape to solve this problem. She had a personal reason for her concern about the effectiveness of the ammo box sealing method, she had two sons in the Navy.  Unable to convince her supervisors of the merits of her idea, she wrote president Roosevelt. President Roosevelt and his military advisors liked Vesta Stoudt’s idea, and they asked the Industrial Tape Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and manufacture a cloth-backed, water-resistant tape with a strong adhesive. Duck tape was made with a layer of cotton canvas (doek) coated in waterproof polyethylene, and a layer of strong rubber-based adhesive. Soldiers returning from the war found all sorts of uses for Duck Tape and its usefulness made it popular. Duck tape was not used for duct work until after World War II. Unfortuneately, the original style Duck tape is not actually recommended for use on duct work. It tends to dry up and become brittle. However, there are many other practical uses for general purpose Duck Tape.  Manco, now part of ShurTech Brands,  trademarked the name “Duck Tape” in 1980. Today, any tape actually named “Duck Tape” is from ShurTech. Now there actually is tape designed specifically for sealing ductwork, and it is referred to as “duct tape.”  Tape used with ductwork should have a UL 181 rating. The next time you hear someone mention “Duck Tape,” just realize they are being historically correct.

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