working through poor air quality

J

Joster19

Location
Ames
woke up to a screenshot message from my employee's father regarding poor air quality due to smoke in Iowa today with the statement:

"...Sensitive groups include people with respiratory illness... the elderly, and outdoor workers.

The DNR recommends that people avoid long or intense outdoor activities and take frequent breaks until the air quality improves."

what do you do on such days? isn't or air quality this half the summer for you wildfire country folks?

I've never given this warning it a second thought, ever felt the effects of smoke, before, but I do want to think about the good of my employees and not be overly young and dumb for my own lungs.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
 
Joster19 said:
woke up to a screenshot message from my employee's father regarding poor air quality due to smoke in Iowa today with the statement:

"...Sensitive groups include people with respiratory illness... the elderly, and outdoor workers.

The DNR recommends that people avoid long or intense outdoor activities and take frequent breaks until the air quality improves."

what do you do on such days? isn't or air quality this half the summer for you wildfire country folks?

I've never given this warning it a second thought, ever felt the effects of smoke, before, but I do want to think about the good of my employees and not be overly young and dumb for my own lungs.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
We work through it. At least, I have never had the luxury of waiting for it to fully pass. If it's really bad, there is usually a fire nearby, and it's path and progress are all that will affect plans, but if it's just shitty air from a distant fire, we still go out and get shit done unfortunately. I use a P100 respirator, and my current employer provides them to the whole crew. He initially got them for sycamore work, but they are great for smoky air too.
 
We will mask up and work lighter shifts on the worse days. Unfortunately smoke season when it comes is measured in months so not working isn’t a viable option.
I found ‘windy’ weather app to be pretty solid for particulate layers.
It’s gotten so bad to have a layer of fine ash build up on a windshield
 
If it’s unpleasant/distracting/a problem, we wouldn’t work and would wait for it to pass.

Just like the heat, rain, etc.
 
I'm sorry but I need to point out that your employee's father texted you? WTF?? Do you send the paychecks to the employee or the father??? Don't take any offense - It's more a reflection of the helicopter parenting that I continue to see with adult kids.

I run a couple of sports leagues. After the Canadian wildfires of 2023, we had to adopt an AQI (air quality index) policy. I based it upon what different high school and college sports leagues (like the Big Ten, SEC, etc.) do when air quality is poor. At the moderate levels it means more breaks, with gradually more changes until we get to the hazardous zones of the index in which games get cancelled.

You could adopt something similar for work. Giving more water breaks on poor AQI days, offering free masks if employees want to wear them, end early with a bucket of cold beer if it gets really bad, etc.

I didn't bother much with AQI until that 2023 season. It was bad here in Minnesota at times. One of the elite players our masters league told me in 2024 that she was still dealing with issues from playing on one of those bad days in 2023. It affected her lungs so breathing, endurance, and other issues persisted for over a year! That opened my eyes.

Smoke never bothers me but some people are more sensitive. I'm sensitive to people wearing too much perfume so I get it!
 
When it was bad in the NE from the Canada fires we either had shortened days or shut the offices for production all together. One of the days I was with a trainee and the sky was orange and hazy. Pretty incredible it travels so far, but clients were appalled we were working in it. It may not “bother” you but it also may have some unrealized damage, think about how silica dust can damage your lungs over time and how many people just work through that only to have health problems down the line.

I am by no means a fair weather arborist. Spent plenty of time out working on days I should have called it, but no job is worth your health and it’s easy to forget that there’s a long term element to that.
 
A good respirator... always on hand.

Great for chipping dead wood, and green. Great for blowing when it's dry. Great fir stump cutting and grinding. Great for bucking.

Some people obsess about leg pro for chainsaws and often skip breathing ppe. Fanciest $300-500 pants on the market.

I guarantee you are breathing harmful particulates every day. respirators are $10-40ish. Buffs are better than nothing, but harder to breathe. Respirators don't fog glasses or leak.

I always keep my saw in the wood.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom