NORTH WALES, PA (KYW Newsradio) — Indoors is the place to be throughout the Delaware Valley, as we’re now in our first official heat wave of 2021.
But some workers don’t get to make that choice. Their job requires them to be outside in the humidity.
“It’s been brutal,” said Isaiah Patterson of Tool Integrated Services. He delivers and unloads housebuilding materials to construction sites.
We found him drenching in sweat on the job in North Wales, Montgomery County just off Route 309 Monday afternoon.
He looked like he just stepped out of a swimming pool, but he wasn’t complaining.
“I’m still able to earn a living,” he said, “so it feels good.”
He called ice water a big help on days like this. He said it’s also important to work together with his coworkers and take their time.
“Take precautions,” he added, “because it can get dangerous.”
Nearby, Les Moretti, owner of Smart Choice Decks, and his crew were installing a deck. He was doing exactly what Patterson suggested.
“It’s pretty rough,” he said of the heat.
“We pull out fans. We’ve got big water coolers to try to keep us cool. We’ve got to watch the new guys, because they’re not acclimated to the heat. You just have to watch each other, make sure nobody gets sick, a sudden headache.”
He called the heat on this particular day “bearable, but barely.”
“If it’s going to be any hotter than this, I’ll tell guys to just stay home because I don’t need anybody in the hospital,” Moretti elaborated.
Related
Senior construction manager Tom Crean with Toll Brothers was working on the outside of a house with his crew on the same block as Patterson and Moretti.
He called this “just another day.”
“A little hot, a little perspiration,” he said.
“Drink extra fluids. You’ll be okay. Dress light, get in the shade as much as you possibly can and just don’t overexert.”
He encourages his crew to take as many breaks as they need in these conditions, and will adjust schedules when possible.
“Certain trades, we’ll start earlier and then retreat for a couple of hours, and then come back and finish the work when the temperatures are a little lower in the late afternoon,” Crean explained.
Crean said his workers become “climatized” to this kind of weather. The same applies to bitter cold.
He, Moretti and Patterson all agreed, however, that they would prefer working outside during a heat wave than when the temperatures are sub-zero.