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July 12, 2012
Survey: Laundries Combat Heat Using Cooling Equipment, Earlier Production

CHICAGO — Roughly 44% schedule earlier shifts during heat waves

CHICAGO — Many laundry production workers face conditions that make them especially vulnerable to safety and health hazards, and higher summer temperatures increase the risk. So, it should be no surprise that virtually everyone who responded to this month’s AmericanLaundryNews.com Wire survey—96.3%—utilize direct or indirect cooling equipment in his/her laundry.

Fans, whether permanent or portable, is the most popular type of cooling equipment in place, utilized by 80.8% of respondents. Nearly half (46.2%) have air conditioning.

Spot cooling systems (34.6%), swamp coolers (19.2%), portable evaporative coolers (7.7%) and “other” equipment are also used.

Some plants adjust their production schedules during extended periods of hot weather. Among the 44.4% of respondents who do this, it’s fairly common for production to begin one to two hours earlier than usual, with additional breaks. But some get started even sooner.

“If the weather is going to be above 97 degrees, we start production at 3:30 a.m. (normal start is 7 a.m.),” explains a plant operator. “This usually allows us to finish production before 1 p.m.”

Others push through in spite of the heat. “At no time is the plant cool,” says another manager. “Starting earlier or later does not cool the plant. We operate 16-18 hours daily.”

Roughly 70% of respondents say they post instructional posters about heat stress and/or offer instruction or training to their employees in how to keep cool on the job.

While the Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.

Subscribers to Wire e-mails—distributed twice weekly—are invited to take a brief industry survey anonymously online each month. All managers and administrators of institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.

To sign up for the Wire, click the “Subscriptions” button at the top right-hand corner of this page and follow the instructions.

April 28, 2010
Cooling Devices, Common-Sense Precautions Can Stave Off Heat Illness

The inherent dangers of industrial laundering have been well-documented. Potentially contaminated sharps lurk in soiled linen. Heavy slings or bags dangle overhead. Large, moving equipment threatens to maim or even kill if a worker makes a wrong move.

Heat stress doesn’t harbor the immediate threat of these other hazards, but it’s one that can still pack a deadly wallop if treated too lightly.

LOOK FOR WARNING SIGNS

April 28, 2010
Cooling Devices, Common-Sense Precautions Can Stave Off Heat Illness

The inherent dangers of industrial laundering have been well-documented. Potentially contaminated sharps lurk in soiled linen. Heavy slings or bags dangle overhead. Large, moving equipment threatens to maim or even kill if a worker makes a wrong move.

Heat stress doesn’t harbor the immediate threat of these other hazards, but it’s one that can still pack a deadly wallop if treated too lightly.

LOOK FOR WARNING SIGNS

September 3, 2006
Some Cool Tips for Coping with Heat

The summer heat has truly been oppressive, but that’s nothing new. Every summer, the mercury rises and my employees ask me when I’m going to air-condition the laundry. Every year I explain to them that it’s not cost-effective to air-condition our laundry but we’ll do what we can to make working here easier, including:

June 22, 2006
Most Managers Keep Their Cool, Survey Says

CHICAGO — Virtually every laundry manager who responded to this month's Wire survey provides some sort of cooling equipment for their production workers, but only half offer their workers information or training in how to keep cool while on the job.

A fan is the most-used piece of cooling equipment, the survey shows, followed closely by an air conditioning system.

About a third of respondents say they adjust their production schedule during extended periods of hot weather.
 

July 6, 2005
Summertime Heat Threatens Worker Morale, Productivity if Unchallenged

Every summer, the mercury rises and laundry employees must adapt to hotter, more humid conditions.

The very nature of the laundry business makes it difficult if not impossible to air-condition the entire laundry. It is imperative for managers to assist their employees in adapting to these changing conditions.