Outdoor workers find ways to beat the heat
Lawrence - When it’s nearly 100 degrees outside, there’s nothing better than beating the heat. But when your job requires you to work for hours underneath the blazing sun, you’ve got to find ways to escape the rays.
Stanley Halbert and William VanDorn have been working outdoors for years, and they share how they manage to find relief from the heat.
“I wear a hat for one,” says postal worker, Stanley Halbert. “It really keeps the sun off my neck and my head. “I also drink a lot of water. I carry a gallon of water with me and drink it every time I stop at my truck.”
“I drink plenty of water, gatorade, and powerade,” says construction worker, William VanDorn.
Halbert says his uniform helps him a lot too, and the shade from the neighborhood trees makes his 25 block hike a little easier.
“It's pretty light,” Halbert says. “It’s polyester and cotton, but it's not real bad, I have a shirt and nice shorts fortunately, so it's not particularly hot.”
But it's not as easy for VanDorn. Jeans are a necessity when you’re laying just over 15,00 tons of asphalt per day.
“The asphalt comes out to us at 350 degrees, so that just about doubles the heat index,” VanDorn says.
He says on a day as hot as Monday, they’re working in nearly 200 degree temperatures, and with that kind of heat, the 10 gallons of water he and his crew drink during their shift is much needed.
Both men have been working in oven like temperatures for years, and they say drinking water and finding some shade are the keys to keeping them on their feet.