Stay Safe While Tackling Winter Projects
Wisconsin winters are beautiful, but cold, snow, and ice can make even simple projects trickier. Now, given the current temps this last week add a layer or mud and rain to the mix. Whether you’re building shelving in the garage or finishing a basement, safety should always come first. You’ll see our crews out and working in all the weather and a few tricks from us are below.
Tips from Brenda: “Dress for the weather! Wear layers! Gloves, hats, and boots with good traction. I make sure as the manager that we all take breaks to warm up and dry out. You’ll often see me wearing ice cleats on my boots since our driveways and the yards get pretty icy from all the traffic and melting/freezing we have. Now with the mud on top of it coming and going each day I’ll even wear my ice cleats on my work boots instead of just my winter boots.”
Tips from Ben: “Handle materials carefully! As our yard manager I handle all different materials with our big equipment and even a lot by hand. The colder and wetter the materials are the stiffer or more brittle things get. When your hands get cold they don’t move as fast or as intricately as normal so just take your time and be careful.”
Tips from Kye: “Equipment doesn’t always like to cooperate in the negative temperatures. Making sure I keep an eye on how things are operating between our telehandler, front end loader, and even our indoor forklift is key. Any equipment, even a tape measure, can become dangerous in the cold and wet conditions this time of year.”
Tips from Tim: “Prep for Success! Prepping your tools and materials ahead of time helps to minimize trips in and out in the cold. Work in stages to avoid fatigue, winter building can be harder than some summer projects. Even small precautions can make a big difference!”
A little attention to safety keeps your winter projects fun, not frustrating. Just like Hetch’s - we’re fun and not frustrating!