Red, watery eyes, stuffy nose and constant sneezing… Yup it’s allergy season. It’s great that the snow is gone but the lovely snow mold it’s left behind has some of us wishing for winter back (okay… Maybe not that extreme). When you Google the best way to get rid of or prevent allergies; it suggests staying inside. Well unfortunately for all of us that work on site… that’s not even close to an option. Here are a few other things you can try to make these next few weeks bearable.

First you should make sure you are suffering from allergies and not a common cold. A cold’s symptoms will disappear within 7-10 days. Allergies will be stuck with you for much longer. Also, if you do have a cold… Allergy medication won’t work. If you’re working on site you can’t exactly stay inside, however, while you are outside, you can try and protect yourself by wearing glasses (which you should be wearing anyway… right?) and a mask. Try a simple dust mask, you may look like you have S.A.R.S but at least you will lessen some of your symptoms. Be proactive; if you suffer from allergies every year, start taking your medication a week before the season starts. Always read the directions carefully, some allergy medication can leave you drowsy. So definitely steer clear of those on site. You can also try herbal or natural remedies. Make sure you talk it over with your doctor beforehand. When you’re done for the day, change your clothes. Don’t bring the allergens to your car or house. Shower right away. Keep your doors and windows shut. If nothing is giving you relief, talk to your doctor… they may offer you a monthly allergy shot to help.

Allergies are the worst, especially when you have to be outside all day. Try different remedies until you find something that works for you. The good news is… allergy season doesn’t last forever. Thank goodness!

For us trades people, shutdown season is a little love-hate. Lots of hard work, tons of hours and crazy long shifts… Usually in camp. On the plus side… It’s a ton of money. So much so, some workers just chase shutdowns, only work a few a year and are set for the rest of the year. However; for the rest of us, that may not be used to working a shutdown, there are a few extra hazards we should go over.

There will be way more people on site and in camp than usual. These sites are losing money every day they are shut down for maintenance, so they understandably want to get as much work done as possible every day. There will be almost every trade working side by side in the same area. You need to safely work around each other and communicate with one another. This isn’t the time to start the “which trade is better?” discussion. This is the time to make sure you’re all on the same page so no one gets hurt. A lot of calls and postings go out for these jobs, so you will have some newbies on site. Make sure you set the example and help them out. A “green as grass” worker is more likely to get injured or cause an incident, so look out for them. There will also be more sub contractors, they may not be green workers, but they may not have been to this site before. It doesn’t hurt to help them out if they need it too. Check out our next post as we continue to go over shutdowns.

We are all basically safety officers when the white hats around, right? Anytime a foreman or a legit safety officer is in the vicinity, we all take extra care to do everything so safely. For some workers though, as soon as no white hat is in sight, it’s back to their same old ways. How does that make any sense? If we can be safe in front of supervisors to save our jobs, you’d think we would want to be safe all the time to save… I don’t know…. OUR LIVES! Safety isn’t just for when the foreman is roaming site. It absolutely should be an everyday, all the time part of your job. Keep this in mind the next time you’re about to take a risk… Ask yourself “would I do this in front of the foreman or superintendent?” If the answer is no… then don’t do it even if they are nowhere around. Act like you’re always being bird dogged if needed. Be the worker that is safe even when the supervisor is nowhere to be seen. Set the example.

The snow is melting! The snow is melting! I’m pretty pumped to be typing that! I feel like I don’t know what the work site looks like without snow. As excited as we all are to be snow free, it does come with a bit of a hazard. Once the snow starts to melt, the ground below can be a mess. From the months of being covered with snow, pathways and ruts can turn into mud pits. Puddles can leave us clueless about the gaping canyon that lurks below. These hazards can very easily cause sprained and broken ankles along with an array of slips, trips, and falls. So do your part, if an area is a hazard, fix it. You can fill a hole or very uneven terrain with gravel or flag it off till it has dried up and is safe to use again. Don’t leave it for the next guy to find the hard way. Be proactive, then we can all enjoy this spring air.