Author Archive for: Paul_K

In the past few weeks, we’ve talked a little bit about heat illness: the unpleasant and potentially deadly consequence of physical overheating. From what it is to the levels of severity, we’ve laid out how to identify heat related illness, how it affects the body and how it can progress. From rashes and nausea to confusion and lightheadedness, heat illness is a real danger to people who work in unconditioned or semi-conditioned environments and on the road here in Western Australia. Here are some things you can do to minimise your risks.

We are experts in installing, repairing and maintaining mobile and temporary air conditioning systems, including truck air conditioning, auto air conditioning and mining air conditioning. We can even design air conditioning for unusual, compact and remote spaces. We’re experts with both mechanical and electrical work, and we work with batteries, generators and even solar panels. We’re conscious that what we do is important for the health and wellbeing of workers in mining, transport, energy, construction and other important industries. We help to protect workers on site and on the road from heat stroke, and we’re proud of that.

In the past, we’ve talked a little about some of the stages and levels of severity of heat-related illness. Looking up that information made us wonder: what, exactly, is going on in the body when it overheats? What is heat stroke?

Western Australia is always hot during the summer. Add a heat wave on top of that, and it’s nothing short of dangerous. When going to work means ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’, the health implications can be serious. As a whole, these problems are usually referred to as ‘heat stress’ or ‘heat illness’, and the West Australia government gives some information and advice on their Worksafe website. Here’s a quick break-down: four types of heat-related illness roughly in order of severity.

Every employee and contractor has the right to expect a working environment that is as safe and comfortable as the job allows. At minimum, that means attention to health and safety on the part of the employer. If workplace risks can’t be eliminated, then they should be approached with awareness and minimised as much as possible. Everyone knows that this way of thinking applies to things like the risk of falling, the use of dangerous tools and machines, and exposure to potentially harmful substances. However, the work environment itself can pose a risk, especially if the temperature is far too hot or too cold. Workers have a right to expect an environment that allows for a reasonable level of comfort, and smart employers know that an unhealthy and uncomfortable environment means workers will not be as productive.

In April, the refrigerant-contaminated air in the cab of a truck caught fire and severely injured the driver and passenger. The scariest thing is that it could have been much worse. They were driving slowly down a suburban street in Perth at the time, and they managed to jump out the doors and escape the flames in the cab. Nobody other than the occupants was injured, but if the same thing had happened on a crowded city freeway, then the results could have been catastrophic.